The Carea Chronicles
by DancingStar01
Summary: A Crash on a planet wipes out Kathryns memories... J/C Chapter 19 also online!
1. Faded Part I

Title: Faded  
Author: DancingStar  
Pairing: Janeway/ Chakotay  
Rating: 16  
Category: AU, Romance  
What happens: A crash on a strange planet wipes out Kathryn´s memories...  
Notes: Take one of the best series in the world, a pinch of Star Wars, mix both and cook them for several weeks. Finally, refine the story and present it to other fans. Reviews wanted. (But please don´t kill me!)

Faded

A cloud of fine steam blew in the face of Kathryn Janeway who awoke with terrible headaches. Blood dripped from her forehead and for a second she was fascinated by the colored lights that were on the console in front of her. Slowly she straightened up. Her head hurt even more.  
A sound caught her attention. The next moment, a man grabbed her gently by the shoulders and helped her to sit up in the chair. "Captain, are you alright?", the voice belonged to a man with tanned skin and black hair. He wore a uniform. Kathryn realized she just wore the same uniform and her was torn on the left arm. Her red hair had come loose from her hairdo.  
"What happened?", she asked.  
"We ran into a plasma storm and crashed on this planet. I was able to contact Voyager, but I suppose it will take a few days until the crew is here."  
Kathryn leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. "Who…?"  
"We have to get out of here, Captain," the man said, "The warp core of the shuttles is defective. It could explode at any moment. "He grabbed some items in a bag and helped her to get up from the chair. They left the shuttle and headed toward a sand hill, which was sporadically covered in grass. The sun beat down from the sky.  
Kathryn was no longer so dizzy, so she stood on the top of the hill. "Where are we?"  
Her companion scanned the area with a small, box-shaped device. "Southeast from here there is a city," he said, "Maybe the city is inhabited." He glanced at the wound on her head. "Maybe we will also find a doctor..."  
"What's that?", Kathryn asked and peered at the device.  
"Let´s go. I suggest we shouldn´t be out here in the dark." He went ahead and Kathryn assumed it was better to follow him. Her head still ached and she had terrible thirst.  
"Shall I help you, Captain?", Chakotay asked suddenly.  
"I'm fine, thank you." She felt how wobbly her legs were. "I need to ask you a question," she said, when they were almost half an hour on the road and the city wasn´t in sight.  
"Go ahead..."  
"Why do you call me Captain?", she asked.  
"What?", Chakotay was confused. They stood between two hills.  
"Why do you call me Captain?... I am the Queen of Carea."  
"What?", now Chakotay understood even less, if that was possible at all.  
"I said I am the Queen. Please tell me what we're doing out here...", she looked around helplessly, "Take me back to the capital immediately."  
"The capital? I ...", now he realized what must have happened, "Captain, what's the last thing you can remember?"  
"I was on a trade mission to Algara III."  
Chakotay had never heard of a planet called Algara III. He believed the wound at Kathryn's head was to blame for her hallucinations. "Listen, Captain..."  
"I said I'm not...", she interrupted him and Chakotay raised his hands.  
"Excuse me, your Highness." When he had said this in sarcasm, her eyes widened in horror.  
"How can you...!"  
"I already said our shuttle crashed. But if it is your wish then I take you to the capital." He had no idea where this should be.  
"Very good. What's your name?"  
"What?"  
"I need to know how I should call you. My name is Kathryn."  
"I am Chakotay."  
"Excellent. Let's go to the city of which you have spoken...", she had hardly said this when a missile detonated in a hill beside them. Kathryn and Chakotay fell to the ground. The next moment they were overrun by an army of armed men.  
"What's that?", Kathryn asked, but she didn´t receive an answer. Chakotay was hit by a shot and collapsed on the floor. A sharp pain shot through his body and his hand automatically touched his right side. Chakotay began to tremble. He registered as Kathryn knelt beside him and called his name. "I... I...", he stuttered. Blood flowed from his wound and almost flooded the fabric of his uniform.  
"You are seriously injured," he heard her say.  
"I die," Chakotay muttered and grasped for her with his left hand. She leaned over him.  
"No," Kathryn shook her head frantically, "No." Her voice was almost panic. "Stay here, I'll call a doctor!"  
"I love you," he suddenly said, and Kathryn wasn´t sure if he had actually said that. "I love you", Chakotay repeated. His hand began to tremble.  
Kathryn gasped. She came closer and she closed her eyes before she kissed him. Kathryn realised that Chakotay kissed her, too. He stopped to shake, but then a new wave of pain hit his body and led him into the dark unconsciousness.  
Kathryn made an attempt to wake him, but it didn´t work. "No!", she cried and in this moment, a female figure knelt beside her. "We have to get out of here!", the woman cried.  
"I can´t ...", Kathryn shook her head.  
The woman seemed to recognize her, because suddenly there was a questioning look on her face. "Your Majesty?... Your Majesty, what are you doing out here?!"  
The woman recognized the problem immediately. She grabbed the left arm of the unconscious man and began to drag him out of danger. "Your Majesty, if you please give help me...!"

Before Chakotay awoke, he saw Kathryn, who sat at his bedside and was surrounded by a bright light. She smiled at him when she noticed he had woken up. Too late he realized his dream wasn´t an illusion of her and he was wake again.  
"Finally you're awake," Kathryn's voice sounded relieved.  
Chakokaty raised his head. Where was he? How had he come here? "Where... where am I?"  
"At the hospital. Janey has found us", she looked around searchingly.  
"Janey? Who is this?"  
"My maid."  
Chakotay noticed that Kathryn was no longer wearing her torn uniform but a long brown dress, which was sewn from a thick fabric. Her red hair fell down her back like a waterfall. Chakotay remembered something else he needed to discuss with her urgently: "Captain, I...", Chakotay wanted to like to know if she resented him because he had confessed he loved her when he was dying. "Captain, what I said to you when I was shot..."  
"It was very touching..."  
"This ...", he stopped, "Excuse me... What?"  
"I said it was very touching. But I have to disappoint you: Although you seem to know me, I don´t have got a clue who you are. You know, it´s not every day that I can get away from the Royal Palace. Janey says she hardly recognized me in this strange clothes and I should be grateful, because it seems you have saved my life. The shot could have hit me…"  
Chakotay sat up in his bed and his forehead wrinkles. "The shot…."  
"Yes, we are in a conflict with the Preem. They claim this planet and have tried to bring me down several times... I wonder why you call me Captain..."  
"Because you're my Captain. Your name is Kathryn Janeway. "  
She repeated the words and smiled, but then she shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don´t remember..."  
"Where are we?"  
"This is the hospital of Berra, the capital of Carea."  
"Carea" he repeated the name, "We were last in the shuttle. It was a reconnaissance mission, and we were just about to fly back to Voyager, but we are caught in a storm and crashed here. Do you remember Voyager?"  
"No," she shook her head again, "But we know each other, right?"  
"A little more than two years, to be exact."  
"Well, at least one of us can remember." She laughed a little.  
"Kathryn, I will do everything so we leave this place soon and can return to Voyager." He wondered how he would do that: The wound on the right side of his body was on fire, and as far as he remembered, the shuttle was only a pile of rubble.  
Chakotay tried to swing his legs out of bed, but the pain was stronger and let him sink back into the pillow. Kathryn put her hands on his palm. Too late she realized that she had followed his movement and they were only centimeters apart. She couldn´t explain why this closeness felt so confides and pleasant...  
The automatic door to the hospital room opened and a woman in a cream colored dress came in. It was the same woman who had helped Kathryn to save Chakotay on the battlefield. A drawing of blue and pink spots adorned the woman's forehead. "Sorry to bother you, Your Majesty," she said then she turned to Chakotay, "I'm Janey, a maid of the queen. Glad you're awake."  
Without having kissed him, Kathryn sat back on the mattress. They were still holding each other's hands.  
"I don´t like to tell you that, but do you have an idea why the queen can´t remember?"  
"Remember? What?",Janey turned to Kathryn, "Are you all right, Your Majesty?"  
"Yes, I´m fine." The doctors at the hospital could cure her wound and there was no reason for concern.  
A device in the pocket of the woman beeped. "Your Majesty, the visiting time is over."  
"Alright," Kathryn got up. Only then she let his hands go. "I´ll return to the Royal Palace. See you tomorrow. I promise that I'll come back."

She kept her promise and really visited him again the next day. Chakotay's freedom of movement was restricted because the gunshot wound ached more than yesterday.  
"How are you today?", Kathryn asked, when she again sat down on the bed.  
"Better," Chakotay replied, but a burning pain made him wince.  
"That´s a lie," she said, and he saw her serious expression. Then she smiled.  
"Tell me something about this spaceship..."  
"Voyager."  
"Yes, if that is the name of the spaceship..."  
"You are the Captain of this space ship. Your mission was to track me and my crew in the Badlands. Voyager was pulled into the Delta Quadrant. Since then, you are trying to lead the crew home to Earth..."  
"I can´t remember all that."  
"You only remember on a trade mission, which never took place..."  
"It took place."  
"Do you remember your parents? Or to Mark?"  
"No," she shook her head, "Who's that?"  
"This is your fiance." He watched her reaction closely. She nodded silently. But she didn´t ask him about Mark: "You say we've known each other long. Are we both..."  
The automatic door to the sick bay opened and just like yesterday, Janey entered.  
"Visiting hours are over for today. The patient needs to rest, "she said," Your Majesty, let´s walk a bit through the hospital", Janey suggested.  
"Fine."  
The two walked in silence side by side until they went through the main entrance. "Your Majesty, I have bad news," Janey finally said, "The doctors say your protector is very sick. The wound is deeper than the doctors thought. Moreover, it doesn´t heal..."  
"Does that mean he will die?" Kathryn noticed a strange feeling in her chest.  
"There is still a chance for salvation, but..."  
"But…?"  
"There is a healing source in the mountains. My mother was a healer. She was disappointed when I decided to put myself at the service of you... But I believe in mothers healing source. You should bring your friend there, but I must warn you. The path is arduous and you can reach the source only by foot."  
Kathryn nodded. "I understand..." She would do anything to help the injured man, who was familiar somehow, even though she couldn´t remember him.

Janey hadn´t exaggerated: the path to the source was actually difficult and there was really no way to reach the source of a vehicle. Because they had to walk and the Commander was seriously injured, she had to help him.  
They reached the source when it was dark, but the healing waters shimmered like a bright, blue gem. Kathryn put her bag down on a stone and turned to Chakotay. "We're here," she said, watching anxiously as he saw the side on which the Phaser hit him. "You need to take your clothes off. It´s forbidden to bathe in the source with textiles", she explained when she reached for his jacket and opened zipper.  
"What?", He thought he had misheard, but she pushed her hands already on his shoulders to take off his jacket. Chakotay took a step back. "I think I can do this."  
"Alright," she turned and opened the clip that held her hair with a single movement. Her hair fell like a river of red lava over her shoulders. Next, her own jacket and the long dress, she wore ended up on the stone next to her bag.  
"What…? What are you doing?", he wasn´t sure if he had actually asked this question. He hardly registered the soft noise which was caused by the splash when her feet were dipping into the shining water. A narrow stone staircase led to the source.  
"It would be better, if you don´t swim alone," she suggested, "Your condition is not the best. The hot water could cause your circulation collapses." Kathryn stood up to her hips in the water. Seeing this made the Commander completely speechless. For a second there was awkward silence between them.  
"I understand...", she suddenly said, "I won´t watch." She turned around and he understood what she meant.  
Chakotay hastened to get rid of his clothes and get into the water. For a second, he felt dizzy and when he stood up to the hips in the warm water, it caused a burning pain in the wound. He heaved a sigh. Kathryn turned to him.  
"Are you all right?", she asked.  
"Yes..."  
Another splashing sound told him that she poured the water gently over his wound. "This will burn a bit," she told him, "Janey said, you can dive completely into the water, when the healing process has begun."  
"How long will it take?"  
"I don´t know."  
Her touching on his right side of his body made him almost crazy.  
"May I ask you a question?", Kathryn suddenly asked.  
"Go ahead...", The burning water and the fact that she was completely naked, meant he could hardly focus.  
"In the previous life I led... Were we a couple?"  
This question surprised him. Finally, he decided to tell her the truth. "No, we´re not."  
"Should we?" She lifted her head, she was curious about his reaction.  
"Why do you think that?"  
"I ..." Kathryn shook her head and refocused to washing his wound, "I think I can remember something... It´s only the short frequency of a dream. I…"  
The feeling, which caused her fingertips on his right hip, sent a shiver through his body.  
"I can remember how you held my hand."  
Of course Chakotay knew what she was talking about, because he had held her hand only once: That was when they were both stranded on New Earth.  
"Why don´t you change the fact we are not a couple?", she asked.  
"You are the Captain. And you have decided you won´t have relationship with subordinated officers. You said the rules of Starfleet will help us to get back home."  
"I see... You now could do something about the fact we are not a couple."  
"I would never," he replied, and she looked at him surprised, "It´s wrong to take advantage of the fact you can´t remember Voyager..."  
"What if I can´t remember ever again? We would be wasting time."  
Of course, he knew exactly what she meant.  
Apparently Kathryn knew what effect her sight and her touch had on him. She raised again her head and looked at him. Her fingers stopped on his skin. "Do you think we should be a couple?", she repeated her question.  
"We should," Chakotay's answer was short, for the next moment he pulled her to him and when they stood directly in front of each other, he started kissing her almost a bit famish. He was surprised she didn´t resist against him. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and she started kissing him more passionately. His hands were wandering and she softly moaned. Her fingertips glided over the spot at which his gunshot wound was and she broke the kiss.  
"The healing process has begun," she remarked, "You have to dive into the water, now." Kathryn led him a little further into the pond and there she wrapped her arms around his neck again. They continued their kiss and Kathryn groaned when he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. Apparently he felt strong enough again.  
His pulse was rising and the hot healing water and the attractive woman were to blame. Their kiss was intimate and when Kathryn couldn´t breathe, she pulled away from him. The gunshot wound had disappeared without leaving any residue. "You're healed," she was surprised, "That means, we have to leave the source. We shouldn´t use the healing powers longer than necessary."  
"That's too bad...", but Chakotay respected the customs of the locals. Before he could add something, she kissed him again. Chakotay carried her to shore and without releasing her, they left the source via the stairs, through which they had come.  
Outside, he put her in the grass. Her wet skin shimmered in the light that was caused by the source. Her hair, which was wet half, formed a kind of halo around her body.  
"I love you," he murmured, "I love you very much. Nevertheless, it´s not right to take advantage of the loss of your memories and... "  
Kathryn lifted her head and put her index finger to his lips.  
"That's very noble of you. But I have a feeling we should do that", she said before she kissed him. She was dizzy when she noticed he didn´t return the gesture.  
"I really want this, too", he said, "But not here."

It was dark when Chakotay opened his eyes and found out he was in bed alone. He took a moment to remember he was in the opulent room which belonged to the Queen of Carea. And Kathryn believed she was the Queen of Carea.  
His right hand checked the place where he had suspected Kathryn. The bed sheet was still warm. For a second, he wondered if she might be able to remember her former life and therefore had left him here alone. At that moment he heard a faint noise which came out of the bathroom. Kathryn left the room and while she walked to the small chair beside the bed she noticed Chakotay had also woken up.  
"Did I wake you?", she asked.  
"No," Chakotay shook his head, "Are you all right?"  
"Of course." She smiled softly.  
His breath stopped, as she took off the long robe, put it on the chair and slipped to him under the covers completely undressed. Kathryn snuggled up to him and put her head on his chest, so they could kiss, if they wanted to. Satisfied, she stroked his fingertips across his skin.  
"That's nice," Chakotay said firmly. He noted the healing source didn´t miss its mark.  
After they left the source a few hours ago, Kathryn said no one counted on his return in the hospital and he needed, therefore, a shelter. She suggested he should come with her to the Royal Palace.  
They entered the palace through a secret tunnel that led directly to her room. Kathryn told him the architect of the palace had created this transition as an emergency exit, but she often used it to escape the palace walls. She suspected she had done this on the day on which they had "met". The room was large and very spacious. It offered views of the skyline of Berra, the capital of Carea. Kathryn sent the palace guard, which was waiting in front of her door, away and the man followed her command without hesitation. "Finally alone", she said before they kissed.  
His hands roamed over her body and she moaned blissfully. "You´re an excellent kisser," Kathryn murmured and tried to open the zipper of his jacket, but her hands were shaking in excitement and she felt her how she blushed.  
"You don´t have to be nervous," he muttered when he helped her with his jacket. Chakotay lifted her up, she wrapped her legs around his body and had no intention to interrupt the kiss. He carried her to the bed and they loved each other until they were both exhausted and finally fell asleep, arm in arm. Only a slight noise which was caused by the light in the bathroom, let him wake up and brought him into here and now. A wonderful here and now. Her hand stroked his stomach and finally disappeared under the blanket. He felt how she kissed his neck and finally curled up in his arms and fell asleep.  
Very satisfied Chakotay finally also fell asleep.

"Wake up, there is breakfast," Kathryn softly said when she entered the bedroom the next morning in her long bathrobe, but there was no need to wake him because Chakotay was already awake.  
"Good morning", he said, when she said down next to him, "Did you sleep well?"  
"I didn´t sleep so good since years", Kathryn replied, smiling, then she saw a little object he was holding in his hand.  
"Do you know what that is?", he asked. She didn´t know but it was made of metal or plastic, it looked like a kind of Badges.  
"This is a communicator. While you were next door, I received a signal from Voyager."  
"That's the spaceship, you speak of."  
"Yes," Chakotay nodded, "They're here in two days."

A painful feeling raised in Chakotay's brain when he thought about Voyager, which came in two days to pick them up. He was sorry he couldn´t enjoy the time with Kathryn. On the other hand, it seemed wrong to take advantage of the fact she couldn´t remember her old life.  
The queen was very busy today: Chakotay knew she met with members of the planetary system Ankaran, today. The debate about the new trade agreement took almost all day and apparently the discussion was so heated that the queen had skipped lunch. Chakotay waited outside the courtroom until the evening and after the deputies had left the room, he slowly made his way to the big front door made of solid gold. He saw how a maid left the room through the back door and the queen remained with a rather worried expression: Kathryn sat in a chair at the end of the long table, her eyes were almost absent and now and then she shook her head. The long, black dress made a perfect contrast to her strawberry blond hair.  
When she heard soft footsteps, she was torn from her thoughts.  
"Is everything okay?", Chakotay asked, but he knew nothing was fine, "I know it was a tough day for you. Let's walk a bit through the palace." He offered her his arm and he was very relieved when she rose from her chair and actually hung up on him. "Leave us alone", the queen told the young women who were standing behind her chair.  
"But Your Majesty...!", one of them said.  
"I promise I will protect the queen with my life," the Commander told them, and the young women gave up.  
It was late and the palace was almost deserted when the couple walked through the east wing. Some lights illuminated a hall whose south wall was replaced by marble columns. It was a beautiful starry night.  
Chakotay noticed the dress of the Queen was now emerald green and he asked her if he had perhaps been wrong in color. She explained the dress was a gift from the queen of the planet Nevis IV and the color was shed on the mood of the wearer. Green was the color of hope.  
"Thank you for cheering me up," Kathryn suddenly said, when they stood side by side in front of a huge oil painting, "It´s not easy to follow in the footsteps of my mother. She was a good Queen. I hope I won´t ever disappoint her."  
Chakotay realized who showed this oil painting and he wondered if he was in a dream or a parallel world, because the painting showed the Queen of Carea and the painter had fantastic captured her on canvas. It was almost as if Kathryn Janeway had never been Captain of Voyager.  
"You're a good queen," Chakotay assured her while she strolled down the red carpet, which was spread on the marble floor.  
"I wish the chief deputy of Ankaran would feel the same way. Instead, he constantly accuses me of obstacles in the way, "she admitted," But he is pretty unforgiving. I think it´s s because I refused his marriage proposal three years ago."  
"Understand…. You know, there's a question I ask myself again and again..."  
"I have no interest in the deputy," Kathryn promised.  
"No, I didn´t mean that," Chakotay saw how she breathed easier, "I wonder if you would be willing to accompany me to Voyager. You could..." He didn´t say she then perhaps remembered her old life because he didn´t even know if he ever wanted that she remembered.  
"I can´t," she shook her head gently, "I can´t leave Carea. Not now. We are in trade debates..."  
"Give me a chance," Chakotay said, "If you can´t remember in six months, I promise, I will do everything so you can return to Carea." He took a step towards her and took her hands. They looked into each other's eyes and Chakotay took advantage of the moment to kiss Kathryn. When they kissed, Chakotay put his hands around her waist to pull her even closer.  
"Alright," she agreed breathlessly when she pushed herself only a few centimeters away from him to take a breath, "All right. I'll come with you. But you have to keep your word: If I can´t remember in six months, you have to let me return to Carea."  
While he had persuaded her with a good argument, her dress became red. He didn´t have to think about what that might meant...

"Your Majesty, it´ not right you ever think about leaving the planet. This is strategically unwise, after you plugged in negotiations with the Ankarans...", Janey said, as she put the clothes of the queen in a suitcase days later. Janey didn´t want to leave her home world, because as maid it was her duty to accompany the Queen.  
"I have to do it, Janey. Although I am sure I am the Queen of Carea, I also remember a moment from my previous life. Janey, I want to know what's behind it."  
"And if you're wrong?"  
"I have discussed the flight path of the star ship Voyager with Commander Chakotay. If I can´t remember in six months, a carean convoy will take us back home."  
The door to her room opened and Chakotay came in. "Your Majesty, I hope you find what you are looking for." With that, Janey left them alone.  
"What's wrong with her?", Chakotay asked as he stepped right in front of Kathryn.  
"She is offended, because she has to leave her home world", Kathryn smiled, then turned anxiously to Chakotay. "I shouldn´t leave Carea."  
"I know but you don´t have to worry ... The ship is now in orbit around Carea."  
"Alright. We should get going."  
Chakotay operated his communicator. "Voyager, three people beaming."

The first way aboard Voyager led Kathryn in her quarters. Because she couldn´t remember the way the Commander accompanied her. Also Janey followed them, who insisted to get a home directly next to Kathryn´s and eventually Tom Paris had to deal with this concern.  
The lodging was dark and strange. "Computer, light", Chakotay said and the living area looked immediately a little friendlier. "Do you recognize your quarters?"  
"No," she shook her head slowly when she surveyed the home exactly. She spotted a framed photograph, which stood on the dresser. "Who's that?", she asked as she held the picture of a man and a dog in her hands. "That's Mark."  
"Oh..." Kathryn turned the picture frame onto the dresser and turned to him. "What's next?"  
"I think the doctor wants to see you soon. He can find out for sure what is wrong with you."  
"Good", she nodded," But would you... Would you join me?"  
The Commander liked to do this favour. Not only the ship was foreign to her but also the crew members. Kathryn felt partly surprised when people talked to her as if they knew her since years.  
At the sick bay, the doctor made a scan of her brain and discussed the shooting with his patient. "This is a swelling in the brain. It expresses the point at which the short term memory is."  
"Will the memory of the Captain ever return?"  
"I don´t know, Commander", the holographic Doctor was honest and thoughtful, "If the crash, which caused the swelling, is already several days ago and since then there´s no improvement in your condition when the medicine on Carea is so advanced, how to report..."  
"Do you doubt our medical techniques?", Kathryn interrupted him and the doctor was surprised by so much resistance.  
"My Queen," Chakotay told her, he found it a little strange that he called her like that, "I'm sure the doctor wanted to say something else."  
The doctor turned to them to, "I'll be honest. It´s possible you will never regain your memory."  
"Never again?", her voice was thin.  
"We should build on what you can remember…. What do you remember?"  
"To my childhood on Carea. I remember my father and mother... "  
"Do you remember Voyager? Starfleet?... Something?"  
Kathryn hesitated for a moment. "No." It was a lie, because she remembered Chakotay, as he held her hand. And his eyes. From an unknown to her reason, she remembered his eyes. "Well...", the doctor finally said, "Rest a bit in the next few days."  
"Okay."  
Both Chakotay and the Doctor were surprised when she gave in without discussion. "But I think it doesn´t matter if you join us at the wedding of Ensign Hickman and Ensign Sanders," the Hologram added.  
"Who?", Kathryn was irritated and the doctor immediately noticed his misfortune.  
"You will get to know the two." He went to his office and watched with a satisfied grin, how the Commander and the Captain left the sick bay. Chakotay accompanied Kathryn back to her quarters and arrived there, she thanked him for his support. "Kathryn, what will you do in the coming days?", he was eager to hear how she wanted to use the time out. She sat down on an armchair in her living room. The living room, which was so strange suddenly. "I think I'll read my personal log. And the Captain's Log. Maybe I then can remember something. "  
Chakotay nodded. "If you need anything, then don´t fear to tell me."  
"Thank you." She watched as he left her quarters and she wondered why she hadn´t stopped him. When she was alone, she went to her desk and started the laptop. Kathryn began to read her own private log. The log book turned out to be more difficult reading material. She hadn´t even suspected, which life she had before her amnesia...! She found, the person she had been before the memory loss was a cool, distant character. She also didn´t understand why she clung to the protocols of Starfleet and put her own happiness to a stop when she knew there was a man who returned her feelings: The old Kathryn described the time on New Earth, for example, as very intensive. Nevertheless, she never changed her relationship to Chakotay.  
Kathryn took a total of three days to read the private log. The Captain's Log should follow. When she needed a break from the reading material, she tried to make herself useful on the ship and she asked the doctor if she could help. But the doctor told Chakotay in a quiet moment to remove the Captain from the sick bay. "Commander, she has two left hands," the MHP complained, "The Captain is usually an able scientist, but I almost don´t recognize her." Their conversation was interrupted by a clattering, which came from the office of the holographic doctor, "Please," the doctor said, "Get her out of my sick bay."  
In the evening of the third day Kathryn had fallen asleep in the chair in her quarters, but when she woke up, she put the laptop aside and went in her bedroom tired. Today the wedding of Hickman and Sanders took place. Kathryn had met them yesterday and they had told her they wanted to see Kathryn at the wedding, despite her amnesia. Kathryn decided to wear a black, long strapless dress. She showered, dried her hair and painted her face. Then she slipped into the dress and went to the holodeck, where the wedding was to take place. Kathryn stayed in the background and when the ceremony was over, Chakotay hurried through the crowd to reach her. He met Kathryn at the entrance of the holographic Acropolis in Greece.  
"Good evening, Kathryn," he said to her, "Are you about to leave?"  
"Yes," she nodded, "The doctor ordered me to rest and..."  
"I'm sure it's fine if you spend this evening with us... Did you meet the crew?"  
"Yes", she nodded, "I now know most crew members."  
Chakotay remarked, how pretty she was in the strapless black dress. Her hair fell in curls over her shoulders and he remembered how she had once told him how much she hated her natural curls and her hair was therefore always smooth. "You look beautiful," he said. Her cheeks reddened.  
He had caught her and he had to smile. "May I ask for a dance," Chakotay suggested and offered her his arm. Kathryn hesitated for a second, but then she nodded, linked arms with him and they went together to the dance floor.

With a glass of champagne in her hand B'Elanna was sitting alone at a table. Tom Paris and Harry Kim sat down beside her at that moment, in which she looked into the now empty glass. "That was a very beautiful wedding," she said.  
"Yes, it was," Harry replied. He talked to the Delaney sisters, then left the table.  
"And I have a feeling it might won´t take long until we celebrate another wedding," B'Elanna suddenly said.  
"What?", Tom didn´t understand what she meant.  
"The two", B'Elanna nodded toward the dance floor. There it became dark, but it was still bright enough so she could see how the Captain and the Commander danced. Not even a piece of paper fit between them. Kathryn's left hand was on his shoulder while the fingers of her other hand were intertwined in his. And B'Elanna didn´t believe her eyes when the Commander kissed the temple of the woman, which he held in his arms.  
"I have a feeling he won´t let her go again," she stated.

"I missed you in the last three days," Chakotay told her.  
"I missed you, too", Kathryn admitted, "I... um... I read my private log. It was... It was an interesting character study. "  
Chakotay didn´t dare to ask her if there was something about him in the logbook, so he presented her a counter offer: "If you want, we can read the Captain's Log, tomorrow, and talk about it."  
"This is a good idea, "she agreed," I suggest we... "  
They were interrupted by Neelix, who wanted to make a speech for the couple. "Dear guests!", Neelix said on stage in front of the dance floor, "I still remember when Ensign Hickman and Ensign Sanders first met..."  
While Neelix was talking, Kathryn grabbed Chakotays hand and left the dance floor with him. They heard the crew laughing and Neelix talking, then the audience broke up and the music started again.  
Chakotay wondered what Kathryn was doing. Finally, she stopped in front of a fountain. "Is everything okay?", he asked anxiously.  
"Yes," Kathryn nodded, I wanted to avoid the next program item." She pointed to the dance floor, where Neelix went around between the guests and invited the women to gather to catch the bouquet.  
"Next, Neelix will give us small cards", Kathryn warned him, "We should write on what we wish for the newly married couple. Then to tie the cards to balloons and let them ascend into sky... Neelix has become familiar with all human wedding traditions."  
"He did, "Chakotay agreed. A holographic waiter walked past them and he grabbed a glass of champagne, which the man balanced on a tray in front of him. "I don´t know what to write on the card," admitted the Commander, "To be honest, I am lately busy with other things." He put the glass on the edge of the fountain.  
"With other things?", Kathryn was surprised.  
"I'd be lying if I say I don´t think of you."  
Kathryn felt his hands moved gently over her upper arms and then stayed there to pull her closer. She closed her eyes and didn´t have any objections if he wanted to kiss her now. Their faces were only centimeters away from each other, when...  
"Captain. Commander. I'm sorry to disturb you", Neelix, who was standing right in front of them, said and he earned a very angry look from Kathryn. "What do you want, Neelix?"  
"It's time to write a few congratulations." The Talaxian handed them paper cards and walked away.  
"I also have no idea, "Kathryn suddenly said," Because if I would say I´m not permanently thinking about you, then I'd be lying... There is something I must get rid urgently. It's only fair, after you have given me a leap of faith."  
He was eager to hear what she had to tell him. "Did I?"  
"Yes," Kathryn smiled, "When you were shot on Carea, you told me that you love me. And I'm pretty sure I also have those feelings, although I can´t remember anything. You already stole my heart when we first met", she breathed in, "I love you, too."  
She believed that Chakotay muttered a quiet "excellent" before he reached for her hand. "If we leave this holodeck, the whole crew will know. We thus seal our fate. Are you ready to forget the basic rule that you have set for yourself?"  
"Yes, "she didn´t hesitate to answer him.  
"Then come." They left the holodeck hand in hand and, of course, Neelix noticed. He sat down next to Tom, Harry and B'Elanna who waited until the queue had at the food counter dissolved. "I have just seen how Commander Chakotay kissed Captain Janeway," he told them.

The way to her quarters lasted almost forever. She resisted the urge to fall into arms and kiss him now, even if they would like to. Instead, Chakotay whispered to her ear, how beautiful she was. Kathryn noticed he had said this to her before. When they finally reached her quarters and entered the dark living area, Chakotay grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms. A surprised sound escaped her and turned into a pleasant moan when he put his lips on hers. There was no resistance. Not even when his hands slid over her hips and finally remained on the backside of her body. He picked her up, carried her into the bedroom and put her down on the bed. Kathryn reached out her right hand to him and Chakotay registered, how beautiful she was in the black dress that clung to her body.  
"I´m yours, if you want that," she said.  
"More than anything else."  
A smile crossed her face. He came to her, kissed her, but his lips soon wandered over her neck to her collarbone. "That feels good", she moaned. She breathed in when the turned her around so he was now on the bet. This was a better opportunity to undress her. Then, he put his hand on her neck and pulled her closer for a deep, passionate kiss…

Although last night was beautiful, Chakotay awoke the next morning alone. He got up and finally found Kathryn in the living area. She sat behind the desk, had started the laptop and wept bitterly. "Kathryn?", he asked cautiously and stayed behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders and saw that she was looking at a picture of Carea. She was homesick, he suddenly realized. "Listen," he said to her, "I understand very well that you are homesick. I will try to contact a convoy which takes you home and…"  
"No", she shook her head and wiped a few tears from her eyes," That will won´t be necessary." She calmed down and told him Janey had put through a message of the government of Algara III. The Minister told he had seen with his own eyes how the Preem had destroyed the planet with a kind of space station. From Carea only particles remained in space and only a few thousand Careans who travelled in spaceships had survived.

Months after this terrible message Chakotay was still the opinion that the damn timing could not have been better: If Voyager would have picked them up from Carea only a few days later they were dead by now. Half a year after the destruction of Carea Kathryn didn´t have her memories back. Chakotay didn´t know if he should be concerned or not. On one hand he liked to meet her every night and have dinner with her. And more he liked the fact that he could kiss her and she was never reluctant. He liked to hold her hand or wake up with her, if he hadn´t managed to return to his home the night before. Once, when he had breakfast with her at the mess hall, he had almost feared that coffee could be the trigger which was responsible for she now could remember her old life again. But she put the cup away, without saying something.  
Of course, he knew the crew talked about them, but it was for short time and no one seemed to have no problem with it. And Kathryn had always worried they wouldn´t take them seriously when they had a relationship... Much more he was worried she was almost sure to give him the command because she wasn´t able to be a Captain: He wasn´t at all comfortable with that. "Don´t worry," she said softly, "In case I remember I am the Captain, then I demand my ship back." She laughed, but Chakotay didn´t think it was funny. "Darling, that was a joke," she promised him, when she saw his horrified look. She also said the ship needed a Captain and finally he change in the command structure caused only a few problems.  
Since then, one month had passed. They had also arranged to meet for dinner tonight. Chakotay was a little concerned when he entered the quarter and it was completely dark.  
"Kathryn?", he asked, "Computer, light." The room lit up and his heart stopped in horror for one second, when he saw her on the floor. She was unconscious and an empty glass lay beside her. The water had left a stain on the carpet. He tried to wake her up. "Kathryn?"  
Relieved, he noted that she was breathing. She seemed confused when she opened her eyes a few seconds later. "What...?"  
"I have found you unconscious," he told her, "Are you okay?"  
She nodded.  
"Let's go to the sick bay," Chakotay suggested when he helped her to get up. On the way to the sick bay they met some crewmembers and they had to stop a few times, because the ground began to turn under Kathryn's feet. The doctor was activated when they entered the sick bay. "Doctor, I have found Kathryn unconscious in her quarters," Chakotay said and the man immediately scanned her. "How was your shore leave?", asked the doctor.  
"Doctor..." Chakotay warned him.  
"All right, Captain. I won´t hold grudges, because I had no shore leave. "  
Chakotay nodded and took this as an excuse.  
"Does it happen often that you pass out?" The Doctor still scanned Kathryn.  
"No."  
"Do you suffer from headaches? Do you feel dizzy often?"  
"No and Yes."  
"Sleep well?"  
"Yes."  
The hologram looked nodding on his tricorder. "I see..."  
"See what?" Kathryn was alarmed.  
"There is no reason for concern," the doctor said, "Go back to your quarter and rest a bit... How´s the move to your new quarters, Captain? "  
"Well, thank you for asking", but Chakotay wondered how he knew they were moving together. Apparently the jungle drums aboard this spaceship were very loud.  
"I'm glad for you," the MHP conceded some instruments, "But please keep in mind to provide a little more space. You will need this."  
"What do you mean? "Kathryn's brow furrowed.  
"You're pregnant, Your Majesty. Congratulations. Soon there will be a Carean prince or a princess on the ship... As far as I have made myself familiar with the Carean court protocol, Captain, you have to call your child at official meetings as Your Excellency." The doctor gave them a lecture in the Carean court protocol, then he sent them out of the sick bay.  
Kathryn felt numb but at the same time the thought made her incredibly nervous. She had noticed that Chakotay didn´t talk to her.  
"Oh God, I'm terribly excited," she confessed.  
"Yes, me too."  
"A baby. That's...", she searched for a word that described her emotional state.  
The Turbolift reached the deck, on which their quarter was located. When they reached their home, Kathryn sat on the couch. She noticed something seemed to be wrong when Chakotay now restlessly walked around. "What's wrong with you?", she asked.  
"The news we will have a baby is overwhelming." This was more than he had ever hoped. "But this ruins my plans for tonight..."  
"What?", she was confused.  
Chakotay remained in front of her, took her hand and finally knelt before her. "You should know I am looking forward to our child. This changes everything between us. And I hope I will fulfil your expectations, raising a Carean prince or princess", he rolled his eyes and reminded her of words of the doctor, "I had another plan for tonight: I wanted to take you to the holodeck to walk with you on the beach. We would have a dinner and I would have asked you if you could consider to be my wife."  
" You... you want to marry me?", Kathryn was stunned.  
"Yes. Assuming you want this and…." He remembered something Kathryn had said a few month ago. "I´m yours. For the rest of my life… In case you want that", he kept her hands in his. "So? Will you marry me?"  
"Yes."


	2. Faded Part II

Title: Faded Part II  
Author: DancingStar  
Pairing: Janeway / Chakotay  
Rating: 12  
Category: AU, Romance  
Content: Kathryn and Chakotay uncover a fraud that will change their future...  
Comments: Thank you for your reviews. And: A tribute to the Death Star!

Faded Part II

"Your Majesty, maybe you should return to your quarters," Janey suggested who was walking in her nightgown behind Kathryn.  
"You return to YOUR quarters," Kathryn said instead, "That's an order." It was after 1:00 in the morning and she walked through the corridors of Voyager in her nightdress. She was on her way to the shuttle bay and Janey had insisted to accompany her.  
"Your Majesty, I..."  
"Janey, please go back to your quarters. I´ll be fine."  
"But…!"  
Kathryn rolled her eyes. "I don´t think something will happen to me."  
"Alright," Janey finally gave up and walked back to her quarters. Kathryn sighed with relief and walked to the shuttle bay by herself. She arrived in time: A team of three officers and the Captain left the shuttle bay. Kathryn stayed in the background and watched how the Captain said goodbye to the security chief Harry Kim and the ensign, who accompanied them. He said he would meet them tomorrow at the briefing. Their mission had lasted almost a week and it was standard, thereafter to see the doctor immediately. Harry and the ensign made their way to the sick bay. Chakotay remained alone in the corridor, but he knew he was not alone. He turned around and walked a few steps in the direction of Kathryn. "How long are you hiding here?", he asked her.  
"For too long," Kathryn said. They were now only a step away from one another and bridged the last distance, when she stepped towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pulled him closer for a kiss.  
"I missed you very much", Kathryn finally confessed  
"I missed you, too." He took a step back. "How is the baby?"  
"Perfectly healthy," she smiled and he noticed something was wrong.  
"What?"  
"Yesterday, the baby has moved for the first time," she told, "It was just a slight movement. Like the flapping of a butterfly. But it was wonderful." She hugged him happily. Chakotay was regretting a bit that he wasn´t with her at this important moment. The fact he had missed how his baby had moved for the first time, caused a strange feeling in his stomach.  
"Don´t be sad, because you have missed it."  
"I'm not…"  
"Yes, you are. I know you pretty well by now," Kathryn smiled again, then took a step back, "And I know the rules very well by now. You will be expected at the sick bay."  
"Yes that's true."  
"Then go," she sent him with a shooing gesture to the lift, "I'm waiting for you in our quarters."  
"Fine. I'll be with you in half an hour."

Kathryn kept her word and waited in their common home for him while he did his routine visit at the sick bay. She kept the time in her eye and counted the minutes until he was with her. The week-long mission had lasted far too long.  
Her eyes fell on a part of her wedding dress, which hung in her closet. She was five months pregnant and currently didn´t fit in the dress. And their first wedding attempt had not worked: Two weeks after their learned about the pregnancy, they gathered the crew on the holodeck and chose a Hawaii- simulation. The wedding should take place on the beach and Kathryn stood in her wedding dress before him and they held their hands. Kathryn was so happy at that moment. After the part of the ceremony was over, in which the Royal band of Carea was placed over their hands, which symbolized the eternal togetherness of the couple, it was time to declare them husband and wife. The autopilot alarmed them at that moment. "Borg activities in one light-year away," reported the computer voice and the crew was immediately alerted.  
"I'm sorry, dear," Chakotay told her when they formally ran from the holodeck and returned to their stations.  
Since then, they hadn´t tried to get married again. Kathryn estimated this wouldn´t happen before the birth of the child. Since then, the white strapless dress in mermaid style hung unused in her closet.  
A low hiss announced that Chakotay had entered their quarters. "Welcome home, dear," she said, hugging him, "I'm glad you're back..."

Kathryn visited him the next day on the bridge. "It´s a pity you have to work again," she said, as they left the ready room.  
"I know. I would have been glad if we could enjoy a few days off", he was surprised it was now her part, to complain that they spent so little time together, "But a ship needs its Captain."  
"Captain, a Carean convoy located in ten light years away from us," Harry Kim reported from his station. This news aroused the attention of the entire bridge crew.  
"Do you want that we contact them?", Chakotay asked.  
"Yes that would be great…."  
"Alright," Chakotay now turned to Harry, "Call them."  
"Aye!"  
It took about twenty seconds until the Carean ship replied. "This is the Carean ship Malea. I'm Captain Alton."  
"My name is Captain Chakotay, Federation Starship Voyager. Captain, the Queen is on board of this spaceship and would like to say hello."  
The Captain was amazed to see her there. "Your Majesty, it´s an honor to meet you," he said.  
"Captain, how are you out here?" Kathryn was interested to hear how he felt almost a year away from Careas former location.  
"The crew is enjoying excellent health."  
"Where are you going?", Kathryn asked.  
"Home."  
"I am pleased you have a new found home world."  
The brows of the Carean Captain wrinkled. "Your Majesty, what are you talking about?"  
"After Carea was destroyed, I am pleased you have found a new home."  
"Carea is not destroyed," the Captain said, "Twenty light years from here there is a wormhole that leads directly to our home."  
Kathryn felt numb. She swayed and with the help of Chakotay and Tom Paris, she sat in the command chair. "Are you sure, Captain?", Tom asked.  
"I'm sure."  
Suddenly Kathryn felt sick. It was as if it were yesterday, when she watched the message of the Minister of Algara III who informed her that the planet had been destroyed. "I... I think we'll have a serious talk with Janey."

They met Janey in the ready room. Janey knew that something was wrong because when she entered the bridge, no one spoke a word to her. Tom gave her even a very stern look.  
"Janey, today we met a Carean convoy," Kathryn reported, "The Captain told me Carea isn´t destroyed. How does this happen? You gave me a message that my home planet was destroyed..."  
Janey swallowed. "It was only a matter of time until you figure it out..."  
"Figure what out?!"  
"So you still remember the message of the Minister of Algara III, which I send you," Janey said and Kathryn nodded. She would never forget the terrible morning when she learned that Carea had been destroyed.  
"The message was fake..."  
Kathryn and Chakotay held their breath.  
"...I had to make sure you stay away from Carea", she said, "I'm sorry I had to lie to you, Your Majesty. Captain, I also apologize to you."  
"You have first tried to convince myself guilty because I wanted to leave the planet..."  
"I had to be authentic...", she apologized.  
"I have only one question," Kathryn said, "Why did you do that?"  
"On the day on which Hickman and Sanders got married, a message from the Carean Secret Service arrived. They said there are plans to overthrow the government and assassinate all. The Secret Service announced the Preem are looking for you."  
"Does this mean we have to deal with bounty hunters?", Chakotay asked.  
"I don´t know, Captain," Janey turned to Kathryn almost pleading, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. If you would have stayed on Carea, you would certainly be dead by now. Like much of your people. As far as I know, many people were killed in order to demonstrate the power of the Preem."  
"Okay ... Leave now." Kathryn sent her away with a gesture. She and Chakotay stayed back in the ready room. "Can I do something for you?", he asked, Kathryn shook her head slowly. "No, I... I think I need some time," she wiped a tear from her face and now she left the ready room.

Kathryn stopped breathing, as the Captain of Carean convoy was beamed to Voyager. Captain Alton was a tall man and his brown leather uniform suited him very well.  
"Welcome on the starship Voyager," Chakotay greeted him, "Captain, this is my first officer Tom Paris. And you already know the queen..."  
The Captain smiled. "Your Majesty," he said, bowing his head, "It's good to see you." Then he turned to Chakotay. "Captain, thanks for the invitation to your ship."  
"Never mind. Let us take a walk."  
"With pleasure."  
They left the transporter room and walked down a corridor. Kathryn linked arms with Chakotay. "Captain, when were on Carea you for the last time?", she finally asked.  
"Six months ago," he replied, "There is a wormhole in Medina- sector, leading from Carea in this part of space."  
"What is the situation on Carea?"  
The Captain stopped mid corridor. "The Preem have overrun your government almost a year ago," he explained and she nodded, because Kathryn already knew that form Janey, "The people are now in the hands of the Preem. They destroyed a part of the royal palace and the ruler of the planet is now the Preem- king."  
Again nodded Kathryn.  
"I know you don't like hearing that, but people on Carea need you. You have to come back."  
"Yes, I know," she nodded, looking worried to Chakotay, "I have to think about it."  
"Of course, I understand that."  
No one said a word. Kathryn had the feeling she would have to decide on the spot what they should do. "Captain, you want to see our bridge?"  
"Yes." Captain Alton followed Tom while Kathryn didn´t move a single meter. "What's wrong with you?", Chakotay asked worried.  
"I need to think for a while," she apologized, "Go ahead and show your ship to the Captain..." She let go of his hand and he watched as she walked away in a hurry.

Two hours later, Chakotay was very worried about Kathryn. She didn´t respond to his calls via communicator. So he began looking for her. It wasn´t necessary to ask the computer where she was.  
"Here you are", Chakotay said as he entered one of the shuttles, which was located in the shuttle bay of Voyager. Kathryn sat in the pilot's seat, staring through the windshield, where currently wasn´t to see a thing. Chakotay suspected she was sitting here because a similar shuttle was the first thing she saw when she could not remember her old life.  
"We have found the wormhole. It actually leads to Carea and the planet is enjoying an existence..."  
She closed her eyes for a moment.  
"...However, the space station that should have destroyed the planet, according to Janey's fake message, is real. B'Elanna checked the data of the probe and she believes the space station is not finished yet."  
Chakotay sat down on the chair of the copilot. "What's wrong with you?…"  
"I don´t know," she shook her head, "I... I almost got used to the thought Carea is destroyed. And then I find out it was all a sophisticated plan my maid..."  
"Don´t be angry with Janey: She just wanted to protect you."  
"I'm not angry with her," she shook her head again.  
Actually, Chakotay was asking himself if she had stayed with him, too, if they hadn´t believed Carea had been destroyed. But he didn´t dare to ask her.  
"What shall I do?", Kathryn asked now, "I am the Queen, I can´t abandon my people." She reached for his hands. "On the other hand I can´t ask that you and your crew to extend the journey to Earth for another year."  
"What do you want?"  
"Me?", She was surprised he asked about it, "I´m torn between my desire to stay with you forever and return home to Carea so our son or daughter has a right to be the next ruler of the planet. That's just... "  
"...possible if the child is born on Carea, I know." He rolled his eyes, because it was written in the law of Carea. "Listen, I know a person who once had to make a similar decision: She had to decide if she wanted to get home quickly, or if she wanted to help a settled in the Delta Quadrant species to escape from the captivity of the Kazon. She decided to help and accepted the fact she maybe never reaches her home again."  
"Really?", Kathryn asked, "Who was that?"  
"That was you. Before you no longer could you remember."  
She nodded slowly. "I know I'm asking a great sacrifice from you. But people on Carea need our help. We have to free the planet."  
She saw that he thought about for a split second. "No matter where you go, I will go with you."  
"Thank you." A smile crossed her face, then she hugged him. They enjoyed the embrace a while. Suddenly Kathryn said: "We don´t have another choice anyway."  
"What do you mean?"  
She grabbed his hand and squeezed it tightly. "We were already paired by the Royal band of Carea. Theoretically, I'm already your wife..." Someday, she would leave the Royal band of Carea to their son or daughter. So, as she had received it from her mother.  
"Yes, I almost thought so." He got up and reached out for her hand again. "Will you join me? You don´t want to miss our preparations for our flight."  
"Not for anything."

The crew was busy with the preparations for the flight through the wormhole until night.  
Chakotay went to bed very late and woke up at three in the morning. The room was dark and a humming which was caused by the vessel, was in the air. The bed beside him was empty, the bed sheet was cold. Slowly he got up to look for Kathryn. He finally found her in the living area of their home: She was sitting in a comfortable chair and fell asleep. A book lay on her chest.  
Kathryn woke up when he tried to get the book because he wanted to see what she was reading. "Why did you wake me?", she murmured tired and let her head fall back again.  
"Come back to bed..."  
"What?", she now lifted her head irritated and realized she was in her living room.  
"Did you wake up after I fell asleep?"  
"No, not that I know... I guess I was just sleep walking..." She put the book aside and took his hand. Together they returned to the bedroom.

The flight through the wormhole began the next morning at exactly 9:00 and Kathryn watched how Captain Alton´s spaceship first flew through. Tom Paris gave her the chair of the first officer, when she appeared on the bridge and she gratefully sat down. In addition, Tom didn´t want to miss flying the ship to Carea. The Captain ordered yellow alert, before they flew through the wormhole. The ship began to shake and a strange feeling spread through Kathryn's stomach. The child moved and she felt a gentle but turbulent kick.  
Voyager shuddered now and a shrill alarm at Harry's Station was noticeable. "Harry, report!", Chakotay exclaimed.  
"The portside sensors have failed," he reported.  
Chakotay watched how Kathryn's fingernails dug into the arm of the chair. The ship was hit by a last quake, then they were free. "We now reach the Carea- sector," Tom reported. He noticed from the corner of his eye, how Kathryn and Chakotay got up almost simultaneously and were watching the main screen. Behind Carea they saw a large space station.  
"What's that?", Tom asked, turning around to them on the pilot's seat.  
Kathryn wanted to answer, but suddenly she cried: "Tom, beware!"  
He turned to the screen and saw how the ship of Captain Alton was rammed by a Preem- warship and exploded.  
The ship drifted to the left. "Evasive action!", Chakotay called and tried to catch Kathryn so she won´t fell to the ground.  
"We got into a fight!", another voice said.  
These little yellow warships belonged to the Preem, but Kathryn had no idea who the opponents were. The Carean didn´t have such small combat ships that could operate in space.  
Voyager was hit by a bullet and tumbled through space. Tom tried to stabilize the ship. "Shields failed!", Harry called.  
"I have an idea!", Kathryn said, because she didn´t want to leave, "On the back of the planet, there is a cave system. We can hide there."  
"Alright," Chakotay agreed, "Harry, scan the planet and look for a safe place."  
"Aye, sir!"  
Once the ship was stable, Harry scanned Carea and sent Tom the coordinates of their hideout. It was an honor for him to land the ship in the badlands of Carea. "Captain, someone is following us!", Harry shouted and a torpedo already soared past them. They were now hit by a phaser. "Shields at 80%!"  
"We're almost there!", Tom steered the ship slowly when they came closer to the planet's surface. The badlands of Carea reminded him of the Grand Canyon.  
Another Phaser hit a rock, which immediately imploded.  
"We can´t land here," he said. He flew through a wide canyon and turned the ship slightly, so it fit through a narrow point between two mountains. The Preem- battleship still followed them.  
Tom turned the ship around, so Voyager could squeeze in another narrow place through the gorge. The ship wasn´t built for such maneuvers and Tom felt how the belly of the vessel scraped over the rock.  
"Harry, load rear phaser banks!", Chakotay exclaimed.  
"Phaser banks loaded!"  
"Fire!"  
They watched through the screen, how the small Preem- warship exploded. They were now alone in the badlands.  
Chakotay and Tom breathed out relieved. "Alright, we search for a safe place to hide," the Captain said, "I have a feeling we need to bring our ship back on track."

"I admit I didn´t expect we directly show up in a fight," Janey said to Kathryn, as they walked with B'Elanna through a dark corridor on Deck Eight. Each of them carried a flashlight on the wrist. On Deck Eight, power failed and they were on their way to the main energy hub to fix the defect.  
"Oh, what did you expect then?", B'Elanna asked. The crew meanwhile knew that Janey had lied about the destruction Careas.  
"Anyway, I did ´t expect the Sacala are fighting against the Preem here on Carea."  
B'Elanna and Kathryn turned their flashlights on the young woman. "The Sacala?", they asked in. "You know them?"  
"I know the fighting ships," Janey said, "The Sacala fight for years against the Preem." Janey dragged the heavy box, which she carried together with B'Elanna, alone. Both insisted that Kathryn didn´t help them.  
"I can´t believe she hasn ´t told us immediately", Kathryn grumbled and shook her head, "Lately, I don´t recognize her again." Janey was now outside their field of view and couldn´t even hear what they said.  
"Yes, but maybe this is the solution," B'Elanna muttered, "You know, on Earth there is a saying: Keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer."  
"We also know that saying on Carea."  
"Perfect," B'Elanna nodded, "Let´s finish our work. Then we should talk to the Captain."

B'Elanna entered the ready room first, followed by Janey and Kathryn. She found the ready room looked unfamiliar with the desert landscape that they could see through the window. Actually, they had planned to hide the ship in a cave, but there were no cavities into which Voyager could fit.  
"Captain, we have an idea..."  
"To be more precise, it was my idea," Janey added.  
"We need to repair the ship... And then we have to find the Sacala and form an alliance with them."  
"Who are the Sacala?"  
"They own the small combat ships we have seen in Carea´s orbit. If we ask them to support us in the fight against the Preem, they certainly help us."  
"Janey, what makes you so sure?", Chakotay leaned back in his chair.  
"On Sacala there is also a monarchy. I hope that's why they show solidarity with us", said Janey, "In addition, the royal families are related to each other: The kings Solomon of Carea and Paeton of Sacala who lived two hundred years ago, were brothers."  
"Can we already leave this place?"  
"Sacala is the closest planet in this system. It´s not very far ", Janey again interrupted them. Chakotay looked at B'Elanna now because he wanted to have her answer.  
"The damage to the belly of the ship are minimal. I´m more worried about the power lines", B'Elanna said," But we can fix it on the road."  
"Fine," Chakotay agreed, "Let's do it that way."  
B'Elanna and Janey left but Kathryn stayed his ready room. The plan to ally with the Sacala, gave her new hope.

Sacala was the closest planet and it really didn´t take long until they reached it. When they were there, Tom came to the quarters of the Captain to pick him and Kathryn up. "We beam us on the planet, as soon as possible," Tom said.  
"Fine."  
"Yes…. Um, what are we waiting for?"  
Chakotay now turned towards the bathroom. "We have to go!", he said to Kathryn.  
"Wait, I have to finish my makeup," came as a response.  
"Oh, the princess has to finish her makeup", Chakotay now said to Tom and it sounded quite sarcastic. At this moment, Kathryn appeared beside him. "Queen, my love," she corrected, "I am a queen." She was wearing a black suit and had arranged her hair to a nice hairdo.  
Chakotay shook his head and laughed. Then they went to the transporter room.

They were beamed into an underground cavern. Kathryn had known that the Sacala normally lived underground. The team activated the torches, which they wore on their wrists. In the same moment a shot struck over their heads.  
"Take cover!", Chakotay exclaimed. He grabbed Kathryn's hand and pulled her behind a rock. "Team to Voyager, we are under attack!"  
Some members of the team returned fire. It came from the direction in which there was also the exit of the cave, according to scans.  
Kathryn shot with her phaser which suddenly gave up. She sought cover behind the rocks. "We are all stupid, that we do that," Kathryn said, pushing a new energy cell in her gun. She rolled to the left and shot.  
A shot hit a rock above their heads and poured down. It narrowly missed Harry.  
"You are surrounded!", a female voice shouted, "Give up! You won´t get out of here alive!"  
Kathryn saw a desperate glance in Chakotay´s eyes. "What we do now?", she asked.  
"She's right, we get out of here dead if..."  
"Okay," she nodded, because she had understood. "Stop shooting!", she shouted to the team. Then she slowly got up and left her hiding place and held her hands up. She could hear how Chakotay asked, almost stunned, what she was doing.  
On the other side of the cave was a young woman in black combat suit. She was accompanied by an old man who was holding a stick in his hands and those used as a walking stick.  
"Please don´t shoot!", Kathryn cried and swallowed.  
"Drop the weapon!", the young woman shouted and Kathryn put the Phaser on the floor.  
"Please don´t shoot!", she repeated, "I'm Kathryn, the Queen of Carea."  
"The Queen of Carea disappeared a year ago," the man with the cane disagreed.  
"Father, she really is the queen. I recognize her", the young woman said now. She turned to her warriors and ordered them to lower the weapons. Then she went to a few steps to Kathryn. "It's good to see you. Fortunately, you weren´t killed in the Preem- attack. More than half of the Royal Palace has been destroyed. "As it turned out, the young woman named Aeria and she was the Princess of Sacala. Aeria told her she visited Carea after the attack of Preem. The destruction and the enslavement of the people shocked her and she and her father, the king, had the wish to help the carean people. But how? That the Queen now personally stood before her, gave Aeria hope.  
"We need your help," Kathryn said now, "We have come to ask you, to support us in the fight against Preem."  
Aeria turned to her father for a moment, who nodded in agreement. "It is my pleasure to help you."

The Sacala possessed a fleet of more than two hundred ships. Kathryn hoped it would be enough to fight against the Preem. Rebuilding society would cost a lot of effort.  
Aeria and her father were very impressed when they saw the ship because it was much larger than their own warships.  
"I hope you know the Preem won´t give up so easily," the king told her.  
"We don´t expect something else."  
"It could be our last mission. The Preem have become more violent lately. Therefore, I advise you, if you have something to do, then do it quickly..."  
Kathryn guessed what he was thinking. "You're right. There's something we have to do..."  
"What do you think, how long will the repairs of your ship take?", asked the king of Sacala now.  
"The repairs are almost complete. We can finish on the way to Carea."  
"Good."  
"Do you want to come with us to Carea?", Kathryn asked now.  
"I will send you Aeria", the king said, "I'm too old for war and fighting."  
"Alright. We´ll leave in the evening", Chakotay informed her. Until then, they had to do something.

Kathryn never thought of getting married in the engineering. Previously she had always believed this was the least romantic place on the whole spacecraft. But when Neelix led her in- she was wearing her color-changing dress which was white now- the room was enlightened with blue light. Only the leading officers were present and as at their first wedding attempt Tom Paris had taken over the role of the priest again.  
"Who gives the bride to her future husband?", Tom asked.  
"I'm doing this," Neelix now stepped back and Janey took the bouquet of the bride.  
"You look beautiful," Chakotay whispered to Kathryn and she thanked him for the compliment, although he had seen her before in a similar dress.  
"We have gathered today for the second time to rise this couple in the state of marriage", Tom began, all those present were amazed at how well he still dominated the speech. After the wedding vows, Janey again handed him the Royal band of Carea. Then they exchanged rings and he explained them to husband and wife. Janey and B'Elanna could see that it was a pleasure to him.  
Happily, Kathryn stepped to Chakotay to kiss him. The spacecraft was struck by a quake at that moment. The warp core was extinguished for a second and then lit up again. The light switched in the engineering automatically.  
"Captain to bridge," Chakotay tapped his communicator, "What happened?"  
"I don´t know, Captain!", an officer proclaimed, "I think the warp core shut down for one second."  
"We'll be right with you. Chakotay, over." Then he turned to his wife. "I'm sorry I have to go now," he apologized to her, "At least we managed to get married this time." He leaned towards her to kiss her goodbye, but she didn´t want to return the gesture.  
"Commander, what are you doing?", she asked in horror," Why are we here in the engineering?... Why am I wearing a wedding dress?"

To be continued...


	3. Faded Part III

Title: Faded Part III  
Author: Dancing Star  
Pairing: Janeway/ Chakotay  
Rating: 12  
Category: AU, Romance  
What happens: The battle for Carea begins.  
Comments: Thank you for your review. Really, I am very happy... Have you heard that MAC releases a Star Trek Make Up Collection this year? Role models are/ were Deanna Troi, Uhura and Seven of Nine. So before I buy a Seven- lipstick, I prefer to leave it...!

Faded Part III

"Commander, what´s happening here?", Kathryn asked, "Why are we in the engineer?... Why am I wearing a wedding dress?"  
"What ...?", Chakotay took only a second to grasp what had happened. She could remember. Why could she remember now?!  
Kathryn looked down and noticed how he held her in his arms. And she saw that her belly was big. "Am I...? Am I pregnant?", she asked, and when Chakotay nodded, she also began to nod. "Oh God!" Tears welled in her eyes and she pulled away from him. Suddenly she felt terribly sick.  
"Kathryn, I..."  
"No, please don´t say anything", even though she didn´t want, she had to cry now. She didn´t know where to classify her feelings. On one hand, she was curious to know how it had happened and on the other hand, she felt a little exploited.  
"Kathryn, I... Well, I have to go to the bridge."  
"I'll come with you," she sounded determined and followed him out of the engineering. The long, heavy dress bothered her a little. She had to gather the skirt, so she wouldn´t fall. "Wait for me!", she cried, when they reached the lift. Finally, the doors of the elevator were closed. "Commander, how could you let that happen?!", the hem of the skirt plopped on the floor while she put her hands on her hips and looked at him reproachfully.  
"I?", he asked, "It was your idea. When we were on Carea and I told you I don´t want to take advantage of your memory loss, you said you feel we should do it."  
"That can´t be true!"  
"It is. You kissed me first."  
How could he just stay so calm? "Commander, I'm pretty angry..."  
"Yes, I can see that: Your dress fits its color to your mood." And at the moment the dress was as gray blue as a thundercloud. Only the lower part of the skirt revealed it looked like a wedding dress a few minutes ago.  
The lift reached the bridge and together they got out. "Ensign, report!", Chakotay demanded, "Why did the warp core failure?"  
"Probably a technical problem," B'Elanna reported via communicator.  
"B'Elanna, you clarify. I expect a report in an hour."  
"Aye, sir!" It came through the Com and B'Elanna ended the conversation. Chakotay now turned to Kathryn. "Now to you," he said, "We need to see the doctor. Now!"

The three stood helplessly in front of a screen and viewed a scan of Kathryn's skull. The doctor compared the current scan with the scan he had made almost one year ago.  
"I don´t understand," the doctor said to Kathryn and Chakotay, "The swelling in the brain is still there. If the swelling is really responsible for the memory loss one year ago, I don´t understand why the memory has come back suddenly..."  
"I have another question," Kathryn said, "Who or what is the queen of Carea of which I believed that I am? ... Does her personality live in my body, which we share? Is it a kind of parasite that has taken root in my brain? Maybe...", she walked aimlessly through the sick bay, "Maybe we are fused together by the crash of the shuttle... "  
"At first I thought the swelling in your brain is responsible you can´t remember your past and therefore you constructed a kind of substitute memory..."  
"But the swelling is still there."  
"Yes," the doctor agreed, "To be honest, I don´t know." He then turned to Chakotay. "I'm sorry, Captain. I will continue to research and inform you as soon as I have news."  
"Thanks," he nodded to them and then left the sick bay.  
"I'll leave as well," Kathryn said suddenly.  
"I am not finished yet with my examination, Your Majesty."  
"Captain," Kathryn corrected.  
"Yes. Excuse me." The doctor nodded. Then he began to take a blood test. "Don´t understand me wrong, but the queen underwent treatment at any time without re-words. You could also be an easy patient."  
Kathryn rolled her eyes. Finally, she decided to use the moment and question him about the past time. "Doctor, I can´t remember the last year. I feel as if I had slept all the time", she said, "Tell me what had happened."  
"Six months ago, you have stepped into a sea urchin during a holiday at Rea III. Four months ago, I had to treat you because of a slight burning on the index finger."  
"That´s not what I meant."  
The doctor now understood. "Well, the Queen is very popular with the crew, if you want to know," the doctor said, "And since she and the Captain are expecting a child, she´s even more popular."  
"Is the baby a boy or a girl?" Kathryn asked.  
"We don´t know yet."  
Kathryn nodded. "Can I see it?"  
The doctor was surprised and after a moment of astonishment he showed her the last shot. He didn´t dare to disturb her while she looked at the 3D image of her child, but he had enough blood for his blood test.  
"Your Majesty," the doctor said, Kathryn didn´t correct him, "I know exactly what you think about the Captain. You should know he didn´t take advantage of your situation. I believe the captain is currently suffering like an animal and..."  
"I know that, too."  
"Good…. You can go now. Remember: you are pregnant..."  
"How could I forget?"  
"...Go to your quarters and take a rest."

Chakotay remembered well how it was when he led her to her quarters for the first time after her amnesia. This felt almost exactly.  
She recognized the home, but some had also changed. As Kathryn walked to the bedroom, she noticed that the bed was bigger than she had remembered, and they had even set up a crib for the baby. On her bedside table stood a bouquet of a dozen red roses. Pictures of Mark and her dog had disappeared and instead photos of her and Chakotay stood on a dresser now.  
"Where's that?", she asked as she took a framed picture of herself and him. On the photo, Chakotay held her in his arms and in the background there was a bay with glittering, blue waves in the night.  
"This is a holo- reproduction of Carea. You wanted to show me this cove because you though it was very romantic."  
She discovered another photo. "That's in London. We were never in London."  
"You and I didn´t," he agreed, "But the Queen and I: The fact you couldn´t remember your old life, I have suggested you should get to know your old home planet a little", he told, "We were in London, Iceland and South Africa. On my birthday we wanted to visit Brazil."  
She put the picture frame on the dresser. "I can´t remember anything," she said, "I feel as if I had been asleep for a long time. And then I wake up, I'm married to you and we are expecting a baby!"  
"This is not easy for me, too," he agreed, "I love you, Kathryn. All I wanted is that you want to be together with me. And when my wish was fulfilled and I could marry you... Damn, I'm the only person who is married just two minutes before my life falls apart."  
"I ...", she didn´t t know what to say, "I'm sorry."  
"Fortunately, we have made provision for this case." He had never believed they would actually need.  
She watched as Chakotay opened a drawers and reached for a box. Inside was a memory chip, which he handed to Kathryn. "What's that?", she asked.  
"You always said I shall give you the chip in the event you remember your old life."  
She hesitated for a moment, then took the chip and watched as he left the room. With a sigh, she got up, went to her desk and put the memory chip in the laptop. Obviously it was a video film, which started immediately.  
She saw herself in a long, brown dress and with long hair, which fell like a waterfall over her shoulders. "Hello," the person on the screen said, "I created this recording for the event I can remember my former life. When you watch this, I don´t know if you can remember my life. Perhaps I create the record for this reason...", she paused, "I don´t know you, but I have read your logbook. I think you're in love." She corrected herself. "I'm in love with the man, to which you feel sympathy. And...", she looked at her hands and then looked resolutely into the camera, "We are a couple. I know it's a little early, but... I really love him very much and I can´t imagine a day without him. If you watch this recording, then I ask only one thing: Please don´t be angry. We just did what our hearts told us and you..." She was interrupted by a noise and suddenly Chakotay sat down next to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist. "What are you doing?", he asked.  
"Oh, I create a record for the event I remember my old life someday." Her hands rested on his forearms and she had not the slightest objection against his embrace.  
" I like the new Kathryn much more."  
"Don´t say this," she sounded shocked and gave him a pat on the arm when he pressed a kiss on her cheek and then got up again. "I have to go to the bridge," Chakotay said and when he was already at the door he returned once again to her to kiss her.  
Kathryn found that the two people in the video looked very happy. Sighing, she turned off the laptop and took the memory chip.

When Kathryn went to bed at night, Chakotay still hadn´t come back home. She wondered if he was doing this to avoid her. Actually, she was very tired, but she forced herself to stay awake. While she waited, she noticed a gentle movement in her belly. Kathryn immediately called the sick bay, but the doctor told her it was perfectly normal. Nevertheless, due to the new experience she was ecstatic and excited.  
She stayed awake in bed, wrapped her arms around her stomach, as if she would protect the baby and waited until she heard a faint hiss of the entrance door. Kathryn wondered if she should get up, but instead she remained in bed, and when she heard how he entered the bedroom, she pretended to be asleep. She felt a quick movement beside her head, then he walked away from the bed. Kathryn saw that he stood with his pillow under his arm in front of her wardrobe and took another blanket. Then he went to the bathroom to get changed there. With the pillow and the blanket he finally returned into the living room to lay down on the couch there.  
Kathryn wondered again whether she should get up to talk to him, but she didn´t. She could certainly talk to him tomorrow...

Voyager reached Carea the next morning.  
As soon as she had got up, Kathryn received a visit in her quarters from a young woman named Janey. "Good morning, Your Majesty," she said.  
"Oh, I'm not...", Kathryn tried to explain to her, but she had no chance against Janey. The young woman almost forced her to comb the hair and when Kathryn suggested she could take care of her hairstyle, Janey said she couldn´t allow it. While Kathryn was a little offended and Janey made a half bun, she looked at the wedding ring on her finger precisely. In the middle was a colorless diamond. It looked very noble and valuable.  
Janey chose a lilac dress for her. "I already said I'm not the queen," Kathryn repeated, "I should wear a uniform."  
Unfortunately, there was no Starfleet uniform in her closet: There hung countless dresses and on the floor piled all kinds of boots and pumps. She shook her head. The queen seemed to be a completely different person. Maybe she should ask Chakotay if she could borrow one of his uniforms, she thought. The problem was, he had left the home before six in the morning. Probably, because he then didn´t have to grapple with the loss of the queen. And Janey wouldn´t permit anyway she left the home in a uniform.  
Kathryn was still a little relieved when Chakotay came to pick her up at eight o'clock. "We´ll meet Princess Aeria for a final briefing before the operation begins."  
"Why did we ask the Sacala for help?"  
"We probably won´t manage to free Carea."  
"Carea is the planet of the Queen, right?"  
"Yes."  
"You thought that Carea was destroyed, right?"  
"Yes."  
Kathryn thought for a second. "I don´t know the queen, but I think she´s very loyal. How will your relationship work after the planet still exists?"  
"Believe me, I rack my brain about this since I know Carea wasn´t destroyed. It´s very important to my wife that the baby is born on Carea so it can become king or queen one day. But for me, it´s never an option to leave you and my child on Carea and continue our travel to earth without you." His answer was honest, but he hadn´t expected she´d ask him such a direct question.  
They reached the lift and rode without saying a word to the bridge. They got out, but before they entered the conference room where Princess Aeria was waiting for them, Chakotay stopped her. "I'm not sure whether it´s wise to tell the Princess you can´t remember being the queen", he told her.  
"Should I pretend like I'm the queen? I have a very bad feeling…."  
"Behave like a Captain, but a bit softer..."  
"Softer?", she didn´t understand.  
"Warmer," he corrected, and they entered the conference room.

They were the last who reached the conference room. All other senior officers and the princess were waiting for them. "My fleet is ready, Captain", Aeria said, "If you order, we will attack."  
"Excellent," Chakotay said, who sat at the head of the table, "Your fleet will take care of the space station, which is currently still under construction. B'Elanna will support the fleet with a shuttle. Tom, you have the command."  
"Many spies of our worlds were killed when they tried to send this information: The space station has a weak point: An energy coupling in sector 77B", Aeria now rose from her chair and showed them the projection of the space station on the screen, "If the ships are coming close enough to this sector we can destroy the space station."  
"What will we do?", Kathryn wanted to know who was sitting right next to Chakotay.  
"We and Princess Aeria and a team will try to find the Government of Preem."  
Aerias projection now changed from the space station to the Royal Palace. "The Preem control their actions from the Royal Palace," she said.  
"But how will you get in there?", Harry asked.  
"There are quite a few secret passages at the Royal Palace. This is our way in. We´ll kill the king of Preem and the planet again belongs to you, Your Majesty." The princess looked at Kathryn, who felt caught suddenly.  
"Perfect. Let´s start," Chakotay finished the meeting.

The mission started an hour later in the transporter room. Kathryn, Chakotay and Aeria were ready to be beam to the surface with a team.  
"Captain to bridge," Chakotay touched his communicator, "Are you ready?"  
"We are ready when you are, Captain," Tom replied.  
"B'Elanna, what about you?"  
"The Sacala are ready, sir."  
Princess Aeria looked at him. "The Mission starts at your command, Captain."  
Chakotay nodded. "Begin," he said.  
Almost simultaneously, the fleet of Sacala began to move. They launched an attack on the combat aircraft of Preem.  
"Captain, phase one of the attack seems to be successful," Tom announced from the bridge.  
"Beam us now to the planet", Aeria said.

The team materialized behind a hill about one kilometer away from the capital Berra. "We are on the north side," Aeria said firmly, "Our spies reported there is an unguarded entrance on this side." She suggested they could take this. It was not possible to beam directly to Berra because a shield surrounded the city and the Preem of course controlled this shield.  
Kathryn walked to a street.  
"Your Majesty," Aeria warned her, "I don´t think it´s wise if we take the road."  
Kathryn gave her an almost evil eye. She was a bit scarred when suddenly a red, floating transport vessel stopped in front of her. The ship wasn´t higher than a man, and the window on the pilot's side was lowered. Chakotay and Aeria came to her.  
"Good day," the pilot told her. On his forehead there was a drawing of colored dots. "Can I take you somewhere?"  
Kathryn and Chakotay looked at each other. "No," they answered unanimously.  
"Wait, I know you", the pilot realized, "My God, you are the queen!"  
"Yes," she whispered and looked searchingly around, "But please keep that to yourself."  
"Your Majesty, we thought you were dead."  
"Maybe we´re dead soon if you continue to roar around here", Aeria said seriously. She kept the city in her eye. Nobody seemed to notice their presence.  
"All right," the pilot nodded, "If someone asks me, I didn´t see you."  
"Thank you."  
The window on the pilot's side was closed again and the little red vessel floated past them. Kathryn watched the transporter. "We should get off the road," she then said.

Phase Two of the plan was, that Voyager also attacked as soon as the team had beamed to the planet. Tom was now better prepared than during their first meet with Preem and so they were able to get closer to the Space Station. The Preem seemed to be focused on the fight with the Sacala- fleet. It was a mystery to Tom why the enemy Preem ignored them. Voyager was like a blue whale, the warships of Sacala acted like little dolphins.  
"Ayala, scan the space station for 77B sector!", Tom ordered.  
"I've got it, sir. I fly to the sector, "reported Ayala. The ship dodged a torpedo of Preem and Ayala let the ship fly a roll to the left. Tom and the rest of the bridge crew were so surprised by this maneuver that they had to hold on to.  
Tom looked at the screen, when Sector 77B approached. "I have found the power coupling, sir," the ensign who occupied the defense station answered, "Sir, the corridor leading to the energy coupling is too narrow for Voyager!"  
Tom turned around, "Capture the corridor. If I say, then fire!"  
"Aye Sir!"  
They followed on the screen, as the corridor came closer.  
"Fire!", Tom cried. Beads of sweat stood on his forehead.  
The torpedo, which was fired by ensign Swift missed the corridor and slammed directly next to it.  
Tom knew the Preem had now noticed them.

The team reached Berra. Countless people were on the road and they ran aimlessly through the streets because a group Preem just fought again ten young carean soldiers. "There is a secret passage that leads to the palace and is located on the back of this wall," Chakotay said.  
"How do you know?"  
"We used this secret passage in the night when we…. ", he stopped.  
"When we what?", Kathryn asked.  
"Nothing," he muttered, "We have to go now... Try not to attract attention."  
"This is quite difficult in this dress," she groused, but Janey hadn´t allowed to wear a more practical battle suit like Aeria did.  
They crept along a wall and none of the frightened residents seemed to notice. The secret entrance to the Royal Palace was still at the place where it had been the year before. They entered the palace unnoticed and made their way to the throne room.

"We were hit, Commander!", Ayala shouted, "Should I go to warp?"  
"No," Tom answered, who watched through the screen how a fighter pilot who was shot down crashed against the space station. Another vessel rammed a Preem- battleship frontal and exploded.  
"Hull breach on deck eleven," answered a voice, "A Preem has also hit us."  
"Swift, what about our shuttle?," Tom asked. Steam shot in his face.  
"The shuttle is fine. Preem didn´t notice so far."  
"Excellent. We need to continue..."  
Suddenly B'Elanna reported via Com. "I have an idea," her voice sounded excited, "But I'm afraid you won´t like it, Tom..."

Chakotay went ahead as they ran through the dark secret passage to the throne room.  
He opened the door and peered out. Phase Three of the attack consisted of killing the King of Preem. And they suspected him here in the throne room of the Queen of Carea.  
"The coast is clear," Chakotay whispered and the team entered the throne room. This part of the palace hadn´t been destroyed and looked just as elegant as ever.  
They were surprised by a bodyguard of the king of Preem. The Preem were ugly insect creatures with a green, leathery skin, large wings and long antennae on the forehead.  
"Attack!", the Preem- king screamed and his bodyguard immediately began to fire.  
Kathryn, Chakotay and Aeria sought shelter behind the throne, members of the away team rushed back into the secret passage. The team immediately opened fire.  
"I can´t believe you let me come with you," Kathryn shouted to Chakotay through the noise, "I am pregnant...!"  
"No matter what I would have said you had done what YOU think is right." He fired a shot in the direction of Preem.  
"You should show more commitment..."  
"Don ´t say I carelessly risk the lives of my wife and child. The baby can already hear you, Kathryn!"  
"Majesty! Captain!", Aeria exhorted them, "Now is not the right time for a dispute!"  
A hit of Preem struck directly beside the throne.  
"I´m hit," Aeria shouted. The pain spread to her body like a fire. She fell to the ground and Kathryn was instantly next to her while Chakotay and the team focused on attacking the Preem. He had an idea, when he looked up: The ceiling of the palace consisted of marble, but there a crack already had formed. When he´d fire the crack long enough with a Phaser, he might bring the marble arch to collapse. He hadn´t much time, but he had to try anyway. Chakotay pointed his phaser at the crack and fired. The marble began to glow red, and finally the first fragments fell off. Larger followed and then the marble arch rumble in on itself. The Preem were on the other side.  
"We have to leave," Kathryn decided. She helped Aeria up and with Chakotay's help, they brought her to the secret passage through which they had come. Kathryn looked around to find out if they had been followed. Then she closed the door behind them.  
"I'm going to die," Aeria muttered, who had sat down on the ground.  
"Nonsense, no one will die today," Kathryn's voice sounded very sure. She got up to go to her bag, in which there was a water bottle. Chakotay should stay with her and talk to her, so she remained conscious.  
"Captain, I know the Queen is currently feeling differently," Aeria murmured and Chakotay thought this was formulated generous.  
"Did you know the Sacala can see the future?", Aeria asked now.  
"No, I didn´t know."  
"I'll tell you what your future is, Captain. Give me your hand."  
Chakotay hesitated for a while, but then he put his hand in hers and she put her other hand on it. "What do you see?"  
Aeria hesitated for a moment. "I see that your pain will be healed. You will be happy again... And you will have another child. A girl. She is named after her mother´s grandmother... Riehsa."  
Kathryn came back to them, opened the water bottle and handed it Aeria. "I don´t need that anymore," the young woman murmured. A wave of pain sensed her body. "I'm sorry I leave you alone here, Your Majesty. Captain."  
"No, Aeria!", Kathryn said, and then she added an" I command it!"  
"Your Majesty..." That was the last thing Aeria said before she closed her eyes.  
Kathryn remained motionless beside her. Finally, Chakotay got up and offered her his hand. "Come, we must leave. Aeria would have wanted that."  
"Yes." She tried to nod, wiping a tear from her face before she grabbed his hand and also got up.

Almost every step echoed in the empty corridors. Kathryn feared every noise could make the Preem notice they were here. They came to the end of the corridor. "We have to get out," Chakotay told.  
"Get out?", Kathryn asked.  
"The corridor is over. We have to cross the ballroom. On the opposite side it goes on."  
She nodded in agreement. Chakotay cautiously opened the door and they stepped out into the empty hall. When she ran across the slippery tiles and passed a window, Kathryn could not help: She had to see the sky. Here at the planet there was nothing to see of the fight that raged in the orbit.  
"We're almost there," Chakotay said.  
But before they reached the secret door, an ugly insect creature stopped them. It was armed to the teeth. "Your Majesty, you are under arrest," it cooed.

The Preem had taken them to the basement of the palace. Kathryn and Chakotay were locked in a cell, the rest of the team in another.  
Kathryn looked desperately for a way out. Any loose stone, which they could use to their advantage. Unfortunately, the Preem had taken their phasers and scanners. With their help, the massive wooden door would certainly be an easy obstacle.  
She had no idea how long she sat in that cell. Several hours had certainly passed. They heard the guard of Preem was getting ready outside their cell, to bring them to their execution. Chakotay looked at Kathryn's eyes and saw she was suddenly afraid. "Don´t worry," he said to her and reached into his left boot. The Preem had taken only the weapons they could see from them. They had overlooked the wire, which pursued one purpose.  
"What's that?", Kathryn asked, but she exactly knew.  
"Do you remember how I once promised you to protect you with my life?"  
"No."  
Her answer was like a punch for him. When he had promised to protect her with his life, he had picked up after a long meeting for a walk in the palace and her ladies wouldn´t let her go alone.  
"Anyway... I will protect you and the baby."  
"What are you doing? ", she looked at him with big eyes. The guard outside the cell rummaged now for the key.  
Kathryn suddenly had the feeling she had to hurry. The time was running out. "You told me that you wished for nothing more than I want to be with you. And now I want to be with you and I have a feeling it's too late..."  
Chakotay said nothing to her.  
"I love you, "she whispered then.  
"I love you, too." He wanted to kiss her and at this moment, the door swung open and the guard rushed in. "Come along, Queen," the Preem- warrior ordered.  
"I'm not the queen! My name is Kathryn Janeway!"  
She could hear how the guard replied something in Preem and thanks to her universal translator she knew he uttered "You don´t say". The guard shooed her and Chakotay with a gun in front of him. They walked down a long corridor until they reached the courtyard of the palace, where countless Preem- warriors had gathered.  
Suddenly the ground was hit by a quake.  
"Run!", Chakotay exclaimed and the Preem repelled from their scrawny legs and flew away. He grabbed her hand and they and the team ran as fast as they could to hide behind a statue, while a swarm of buzzing Preem flew over their heads and gathered around the king. The King of Preem uttered a strange sound.  
"What is he doing?", Kathryn asked breathless because she couldn´t run as fast as before. The flying insects coalesced around him like a hurricane and they darkened the sky.  
"I don´t know," Chakotay pondered and saw that the Preem- guard had dropped his weapon on the floor in the rush of awakening. He crawled across the dusty ground and grabbed the gun. Then he returned to Kathryn and the team. It took a while until he realized how the weapon worked. He took aim at the head of Preem- king and shot.

"B'Elanna, are you ready?", Tom asked her, "We can´t stand any longer against the Preem!" He had not expected that these small, yellow battleships were so much stronger than Voyager. The ship was now damaged heavily. There was hull breaches on several decks, the warp core stopped working and the shields were working only with 10%.  
"I'm ready," the Klingon confirmed.  
"Good," Tom took a deep breath, "Attack!"  
They approached the space station and fired. Thus they attracted the attention of Preem so B'Elanna could head unnoticed in her shuttle towards Sector 77B. Her plan was to fly a shuttle into the narrow corridor to destroy the energy coupling. Voyager fired two successive torpedoes on the Space Station and the surface exploded.  
The Preem approached and B'Elanna seized the moment to fly her shuttle into the corridor. She exhaled in relief, because her tiny ship fit into it. B'Elanna sensed the energy coupling with the scanners, then the shuttle was pushed forward by the blast of another explosion. She came closer to her goal, sensed it and fired. The torpedo hit the energy coupling and remained stuck there.  
"Done," B'Elanna said to herself and accelerated the shuttle, as well as it allowed the narrow corridor. She threw a worried look at the time fuse, which showed a countdown.  
Still 10... 9...  
B'Elanna was relieved when the shuttle finally left the space station, "Torres to Voyager and Sacala- fleet: Get out of here. Now! "  
5... .4...  
She saw how the Sacala backed off from the space station instantly and also Voyager did but not fast enough.  
3... 2 ... 1 ...  
The space station exploded and became a fireball. B'Elanna in her shuttle and Sacala- fleet were safe. Voyager was hit by the blast of the explosion and looked like a piece of driftwood on the ocean. "Torres to Voyager!", she called distressed, "Voyager, are you okay?" She listened to the silence, hoping for a sign of life of the crew.  
"Here Voyager", Tom finally replied, but the signal was very poor. Nevertheless B'Elanna could hear the relief in his voice. "We're fine. The ship is badly damaged, but we're fine..."

The Preem- swarm, which darkened the sky, broke up, when the king of the insects fell to the ground. His head rolled on the ground and finally stopped against a wall. The rest of the field team and the Queen now also took weapons which were left behind by the Preem and fired at the confused Swarm. "Get out of here!", Kathryn cried to them, "And don´t dare to come back!"

After Voyager docked with last forces at an intact hangar in capital Berra, B'Elanna began to search for the crew immediately. "Tom!", she exclaimed when she saw him and embraced him stormily. Not only B'Elanna and the fighter pilots of Sacala were waiting for them, but also the residents of Carea who were now freed from the tyranny of Preem. People were cheering their liberators and enjoyed their freedom. Kathryn watched the crowd from a distance.  
"It is a pity Aeria can´t see this," she said to Chakotay. He stood a few feet away from her and it was not necessary to turn around. She knew he was present. "You are a hero, now", Kathryn said, "After all, it was you who killed the Preem- King." She looked at the badly damaged Voyager. "What are you going to do?", she asked him, "Are you going to stay on Carea?"  
He knew exactly what she actually wanted to know. "I'm sure the ship can be repaired. We stay here until then and the child is born. This was very important to my wife."  
"Yes, you already told me", Kathryn nodded oppressed and Chakotay stood right next to her, "By the way, I´m sorry for what I have said in the throne room. I think you'll become an excellent father."  
"Thank you. And I think you'll be a good mother", he saw that she smiled," Come on, let's go to the crew and celebrate our victory with them."

The part of the Royal Palace, where the room of the Queen was located, was also destroyed. It would certainly take a few months until the palace and the capital were completely habitable again and regained its old, graceful splendor.  
Kathryn woke up late at night in her bedroom. She wondered why the bed beside her was empty. Worried she got up and walked into the living room. "Love?", she asked and sat down beside him to gently shake his shoulder. "Yes?", he turned sleepily to her and sat up.  
"Darling, why do you sleep on the couch?", Kathryn asked. She noticed how tired he looked.  
"Why...?", he thought he had misheard, "Don´t you remember?"  
"No," she confirmed, "The last thing I can remember is when we got married in the engineering..."  
"Previously, we have talked to the princess and the king of Sacala. They have helped us in the fight against Preem. And you don´t remember?"  
"I can still remember that. But not, why you sleep on the couch." Only now he was fully awake. "Are you you?"  
"Of course I am me. But why..." Kathryn couldn´t finish, because he suddenly hugged her fiercely and squeezed her tightly. "What's wrong?", she asked, but he didn´t answer her.  
"I'm so relieved you're back." He put his hand in her neck and pulled closer her for a passionate kiss. He heard her moan as he tenderly stroked his thumb over the spot below her ear. When he ended the kiss, Kathryn understood even less. "We have to try to explain what it's all about, that you could remember your old life after our wedding and now you can´t, okay?"  
"Yes," she nodded. Her eyes roamed the window and saw the skyline of a city. "My goodness," she got up, "Is it Berra?" She was standing in front of the window and stared out at the skyline of Berra, the capital of Carea.  
"Yes, Voyager has docked at a hangar. The ship is damaged, after we have beaten the Preem... "  
"We have beaten the Preem?"  
"It was a tough business, but B'Elanna is convinced she can handle the repairs. It will take a few months, but it will work..."  
She leaned against him.  
"It´s really nice you're back with me. I almost thought I'd lost you."  
"You won´t lose me", she smiled at him. Kathryn was shocked by his serious expression. "Kathryn, you remember that Princess Aeria was killed?"  
"What?", she asked in horror, "Oh, that's terrible." Tears welled in her eyes and she began to cry. "Hold me," she sobbed, feeling how Chakotay pulled her into his arms and held her until she calmed down. Just as she had asked for.

The next night Princess Aeria of Sacala was given a state funeral. Countless people lined the streets in the half-destroyed capital Berra to pay their last respects to the Princess. The grieving king of Sacala, the senior officers of Voyager, Kathryn and Janey walked behind the coffin of the princess, which was finally brought in a marble building that wasn´t destroyed. There the Princess was laid out one last time before the flames devoured her lifeless body.  
Kathryn could feel the heat of the fire on her face. The senior officers watched the ceremony in silence. The King of Sacala stood on the other side of the burning coffin and his younger daughter comforted him. Kathryn could see him crying through the dancing flames.  
She and Chakotay knew since this morning that the baby was a girl. She had always planned to name her daughter after her mother, but she had made the decision that the girl should be called Aeria and she knew Chakotay agreed.  
"I am sorry I haven´t been with you, when you fought against Preem", Kathryn said quietly to Chakotay, who was still standing next to her and watched the ceremony just silence. Kathryn's face was barely visible under the hood of her long black cape.  
Chakotay grabbed her Hand. He remembered something Aeria had said to him during her lifetime. He just had to know... "Kathryn, I have a question...", he began and she turned her head towards him, "What was your mother´s name?"  
"My mother?"  
"Yes," he confirmed, "The one who was Queen of Carea before you."  
"Her name was Riehsa. Why do you want to know?"  
Chakotay squeezed her hand a little tighter. "Just out of interest, my queen."


	4. The dark menace Part I

Title: The dark menace Part I  
Author: Dancing Star  
Pairing: Janeway/ Chakotay  
Spoiler: Faded I-III  
Rating: 12  
Category: AU, Romance  
What happens: The Minister of Corellia asks Kathryn to help in the fight against the Borg...  
Notes: The Borg! I really like them. Even if they are the grouch of the galaxy, they are an entertaining bunch. Let me know what you think. :-)

The dark menace Part I

"Your Majesty, I, the Minister of Corellia ask you for help," a short man said, rising from his chair at the end of the conference hall in the palace of Carea. The setting sun bathed the room already in reddish light.  
"What´s wrong, Minister?", Kathrny asked. She sat in a chair at the other end of the long conference table. A strange pain in Kathryn's belly made her stop and she was relieved her husband was sitting right next to her. "Is everything okay?", Chakotay asked concerned.  
"Yes," she nodded. She remembered he didn´t want her taking part at the meetings in her state. "You're pregnant and should rest. It doesn´t help anyone if you fall asleep at the table", he had told her, but she replied she had to participate. However, today was the hottest day of the current year and she felt agonized.  
"Your Majesty, I ask once again for your help in the fight against the Borg. You have defeated the Preem and by using your fleet and Voyager we can beat the Borg", the Minister of Corellia said. Kathryn escaped how Chakotay watched at his first officer Tom Paris, who was sitting to her left. The two men thought the minister only wanted to ally with them, because Voyager was one of the largest ships in the planetary system.  
"Carea is a peaceful world," said Kathryn, "We have nothing to do with the wars against the Borg..."  
"Your Majesty, you can´t send us away...!"  
"I don´t do that, Minister," Kathryn and Chakotay exchanged a look, "I'll think about your request. This is a matter that must be deliberated." She knew what it meant for the planet if she agreed. The war with the Preem had ended a little more than three years ago and since then there was peace on Carea. The Voyager hadn´t left the planet, because the crew assisted in the reconstruction and also it was the duty of the captain to protect his wife and the Crown Princess. The leader of the Carean military appointed him for General after defeating the Preem and Kathryn insisted that he accepted this award. While Kathryn was pregnant, Chaktoay told her it wasn´t a problem to stay on Carea until the birth of the child. When the baby was born then, they agreed they would remain on Carea until the child was out of the woods. And when Aerias second birthday was over, Kathryn noted she was pregnant again. Thus this child had the opportunity to get into the civil service someday, they had decided to stay on the planet. Carea was now their home world. As far as Kathryn knew some crew members were married to natives meanwhile. What could have happened if they had continued their journey to Earth? Perhaps they would never get there. They might could have reached this destination and then? Perhaps Starfleet would have punished the Marquis- part of the crew for their past. And Voyager would fall prey to junk press. Or the ship would be turned into a museum, if the Starfleet dealt graciously with it.  
"Minister, give me time to think," Kathryn said.  
"Of course," the minister bowed his head.  
As Kathryn wanted to get up, she was hit by a pain that came from her stomach. She put her almost automatically to the point which was the origin of unease.  
"The baby?", Chakotay asked concerned.  
"Yes, it's time."  
Chakotay helped her getting up.  
"This conversation is over for today," Tom, who now also rose from his chair, said. He tried to help Chakotay and Kathryn. They now had to see the doctor.

It was three o'clock in the morning when Kathryn and the baby were allowed to return to the quarters of the family.  
Janey opened the heavy door and entered first. The Quartier brightened a little.  
"Your Majesty," Janey said and Kathryn entered. Her red hair hung over the blue silk robe and nightgown she wore. She looked pretty exhausted.  
Janey pulled back the blanket, so Kathryn could lie down. She watched as Chakotay entered the bedroom. On his arm he carried Riehsa. He was still entranced by the sight of his daughter: The girl had the hair color of her mother, but Aeria´s hair was also red first. A few months after her birth her hair turned dark and Kathryn was a little disappointed that her daughter looked more like her father. Nevertheless, she loved Aeria very much.  
"Would you like to hold your baby?", Chakotay asked. He placed the baby on Kathryn's chest, sat down beside her and put an arm around his wife. He, too, was tired and couldn´t wait to sleep at least a few hours.  
Kathryn enjoyed for a moment the warmth which came from the infant. "Do me a favor?", she asked, "Please go and get Aeria. I promised her she is allowed to see the baby as soon as possible."  
Chakotay sighed, but then he stood up and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Whatever you want, my queen." He winked at her before he left the bedroom and when Kathryn was alone, she realized how tired she actually was. The rain of a heat storm drummed on her window and the sound had an almost hypnotic effect.  
Aerias room wasn´t far from her parents' bedroom. Nevertheless, the hallway was dark. The girl's room lit up when Chakotay entered and sat down in front of her bed. "Aeria", he said, "Aeria, wake up. The baby is here."  
The dark-haired girl opened her eyes.  
"Mommy wants to see you."  
"Yes," the princess sat up in her bed and stretched out her arms to her father. Chakotay took Aeria on his arm. She tired wrapped her arms around his neck and put her head on his shoulder. Aeria fell asleep while Chakotay carried her to Kathryn, but when they entered the bedroom, the princess was wide awake. "Mommy?", she asked when she reached the bed, where her mother was. The newborn dozed on her chest.  
Before Chakotay again sat beside Kathryn and put his arm around her, he lifted Aeria on the bed.  
"Mommy, how are you?", Aeria asked. She was not yet three years old, but she was very emphatic. Kathryn thought it was a very good condition to become the queen of this planet.  
"I'm fine, honey," Kathryn watched the newborn princess who was still dozing, "This is your sister Riehsa." She reached out to Aeria and the little girl in a pink nightgown clung in her arm.  
Chakotay found, they made a very peaceful picture as Kathryn lay in her bed with Aeria in her left arm and Riehsa on her chest. Once again he leaned over to Kathryn and planted a kiss on her forehead. "I am very happy today," he told her.  
"Yes, I know. Me too." She smiled at him when she noticed that Aeria was asleep, "I am also very happy." They both looked into the face of their newborn daughter. "I love you."  
"I love you too."  
They were silent for a while and still fascinated Kathryn looked at the face of the newborn. "I need to ask you a question," she began, "Do you think we should get involved in the fight against the Borg? Remember that Carea is a peaceful world and we should let lie sleeping dogs."  
The war was far away from Carea.  
"This is a difficult decision." He thought of the prime directive and wondered if he should mention it. Chakotay didn´t want to be in her shoes. There was a difference if she had to make a decision for a crew of 150 persons or for the 50,000,000 inhabitants of the planet and for their children.  
"You know, I'm glad you're just as helpless in this matter, as I am...", she murmured, looking at him. But she had come to a conclusion.

Chakotay let Kathryn sleep in the next morning and he left the quarters only when Janey was here in order to take care of Riesha. He walked alone through the palace and stopped in the hall in the east wing. He leaned on a balustrade and watched the sunrise. He thought about the question Kathryn had asked him this morning. While he pondered, his thoughts always returned to his wife and children. He had always wished to have children and ideally, Kathryn should be the mother. When his wish came true, he knew he had to protect his family from all evil. But how long would this tactic work?  
Chakotay heard footsteps coming in his direction.  
"Good morning, General," Tom Paris said and also stopped at the railing.  
"Don´t call me like that," Chakotay said.  
"I know", Tom took the opportunity to taunt, "…I heard it's a girl."  
"How do you know?", Chakotay's brow wrinkles. The protocol stipulated that the newborn princess was presented to the population today.  
"From Neelix. And Neelix knows from Janey. Does the baby already have a name?", Tom asked.  
"Riehsa."  
"Aeria and Riehsa. The air and the feather", Tom said, "How do you stand this twice, Chakotay? It´s difficult enough to endure the whims of my wife during one pregnancy." Tom and B'Elanna currently expected their first child. Also a girl.  
"Tom, there's a problem," Chakotay said, "I think the queen is seriously considering to support the Minister of Corellia fighting the Borg."  
"That´s no wonder," Tom replied.  
"What should we do?"  
Tom was surprised he asked him after all. "Well," he thought for a while, "Do we have a choice?"  
"You always have a choice... We chose this life when we have decided to stay. This day had to come..."  
"And the Queen relies on you", then he corrected himself, "The entire planet does."  
Chakotay knew his first officer was right. He came to terms they would fight against the Borg.

When he reached the quarters, Janey was cleaning up. "Janey, where's the queen?", Chakotay asked.  
"She´s at the garden, General."  
"I don´t call me like that."  
The young woman raised her hands. "Sorry." She watched how he crossed the living room and went into the garden through the open glass doors. Although it had rained heavily the previous night, the ground was dry. The gravel rustled under his feet when he finally discovered Kathryn, who was sitting on a stone bench and watched Aeria who plucked some flowers. "Why didn´t you wake me up?," she asked as she looked at him and got up and once again he was reminded he had a beautiful wife: The light blue dress looked very pretty in combination with her long, strawberry blond hair. Her blue eyes shone whenever she saw him.  
"Good morning, dear," he corrected her, pulling her into his arms as soon as she stood before him, "I thought I'd let you sleep after last night was pretty tough."  
Kathryn snuggled up to him, "How nice of you."  
"By the way you look very beautiful today..."  
"You think I´m beautiful?", she smiled sheepishly about this compliment.  
"...And brave, clever and very warm-hearted."  
She laughed and turned to Aeria, who now held a bouquet of colorful flowers in her hands. Chakotay whispered to her that they could kiss when Aeria didn´t watched and when the little girl turned around, he took the opportunity and kissed his wife.  
"Have you made a decision what to say to the Minister of Corellia?", He asked this out of curiosity. Kathryn looked at him. "Yes, I did," she smiled at him.  
Chakotay wanted to ask for details, but they were interrupted by Janey who called him via communicator. "General Chakotay," she coughed, "I mean, Captain Chakotay... Sorry... Is the Queen with you?"  
Chakotay tapped his communicator. "Yes, she's with me. What´s wrong?"  
He could hear Janey´s slightly desperate tone: "You might want to get back to your quarters quickly. Princess Riehsa is crying and I can´t calm her down."  
"We'll be with you in a few minutes. Chakotay out." He tapped again on his communicator and saw how Kathryn rolled her eyes. Although she was the queen, she insisted to raise her children by herself. But it was nice to have a little help now and then. "I bet Riehsa is hungry," she guessed. She linked arms with Chakotay and they made their way back to the palace. "Aeria, come," Kathryn cried for her daughter and reached out for the little girl. "Yes, Mommy", Aeria answered and hurried to follow them and when she finally reached her parents, she grabbed her mother's hand.

In the afternoon it was time to introduce the newborn princess to the population. The sun shone from the sky and the residents of the capital Berra had gathered before the palace to celebrate the birth of the baby. Riehsa slept on her mother's arm and was wrapped in the same lace blanket, which was already worn by her sister as a baby. Chakotay carried Aeria on his arm. Sometimes he was amazed she acquiesced so well in her role as princess.  
They had agreed they would then meet the Minister of Corellia to inform him of the decision.  
"I wanted to ask you for your decision in the palace garden", Chakotay whispered to Kathryn. And he found it a little sad she didn´t tell him: "I hope you're not too disappointed."  
When the doors of the palace had closed behind them, Janey appeared to pick up Riehsa and Aeria. Kathryn watched skeptical when she walked away with the princesses.  
"Come on," Chakotay said softly to her and touched her shoulder, "The minister is waiting."  
"Yes," she agreed, but she didn´t say a word to him on the way to the meeting room. Chakotay could literally feel she thought until recently on the situation of the planet Corellia.  
When the heavy door to the boardroom opened, the minister was waiting for her with the Voyager- senior officers and she asked them to sit down. "Well, Your Majesty. Have you made a decision?", asked the minister, and folded his hands .  
"I did."  
Chakotay, who was sitting right next to her, looked at her worried. And he could see that Tom and the rest of the senior officers were worried as well.  
"I have decided…," Kathryn said, "…we won´t support you in the fight against the Borg."  
The senior officers were surprised. And the Minister of Corellia rose from his chair. "What?!", he shouted in horror, "You don´t know who you're dealing with ...! This will have consequences, Queen."  
"I know this, Minister," Kathryn got up, "But I came to the conclusion it´s better not to interfere in this matter. As I said, Carea is a peaceful world." She walked away from the table at which the senior officers and the Minister still sat. "Excuse me."  
As she left the room, the crew looked at Chakotay, who still couldn´t believe what had just happened.

"Are you angry because I refused to help the Minister of Corellia?", Kathryn asked, when they lay in their bed side by side in the night. None of them was able to sleep.  
"What makes you think that?"  
"Because you haven´t spoken a single word to me since the end of the meeting."  
Chakotay sighed and turned around to her. He saw that the lights which were generated by the capital skyline reflected on the ceiling. "I wonder why you refused...", he admitted.  
"Sometimes we have to do things we don´t want, but we know they are best for us."  
"I think we should help him..."  
"Why?", She interrupted suddenly.  
"Because the Corellia- system is not very far from Carea. I would prefer support when we stand at the front line. The question is not if but when the Borg will reach us, Kathryn." He thought of the time in which she didn´t sent someone away who asked for help. In addition, any struggle they led now, was a battle with which his daughters hadn´t to grapple in the future.  
Kathryn herself couldn´t explain why she had made this decision. Maybe the hormones were to blame, she thought. "We currently speak about the reasons of our choices: Why is it a problem for you if someone calls you General? It's an insult, if you reject a title which was given to you by the Carean military." She already had a guess what it was. "You don´t accept Carea as your home world."  
He was horrified she thought that at all. "We both know that's not true," he told her, he saw through her diversion immediately. He now leaned on his right arm, so he could look at her.  
"Oh well, I hope so," Kathryn snorted.  
"Why are you angry?"  
"I'm not angry", She gave up, grabbed her pillow and turned to the right side, so she could finish their discussion. So far they never went to bed arguing, which meant that Kathryn finally fell asleep with a strange feeling in her stomach.

A loud rumble woke Kathryn in the middle of the night. Something didn´t seem to agree, because the bed beside her was empty. Wearily, she sat up in her bed and finally she decided to get up. Kathryn reached for the silken bathrobe, which was placed on a chair next to the bed and put the cloth around her shoulders. She heard a rumble again.  
"Hello?", Kathryn asked and crept into the living area, "Chakotay?"  
But even in the living room there was none.  
"Janey?", again she received no response, "Is anyone here?"  
A buzzing noise that came from the other direction caught her attention. She also saw a green pulsating light, which appeared under the door to her room. Kathryn hurried to come to the door and opened it. She quickly stepped out into the hallway which connected the living room and her bedroom with the children's rooms.  
"Oh my God!", she exclaimed when she saw the tall men. At some points of their limbs hung cables and on the black armor they wore, lights gleamed here and there. One of the men had a saw instead of a hand. Kathryn had already read about the Borg in the Voyager- database. Seeing them now, face to face, was worse than she had ever imagined. She felt hot and cold at the same time. Her knees began to shake. Fear clasped around her heart like a cold fist.  
She tried to run, but a group of Borg stood in her way. Kathryn almost would have slipped and when she struggled with her balance, she realized the Borg were Tom Paris and Harry Kim.  
Kathryn gasped, but she decided to buck up and run towards the nursery rooms. In the dim green light now about five laser beams lit up. The door to Aerias room opened and a tall figure walked out with heavy steps. A tiny shape broke away from the Borg. Kathryn could see it was Aeria.  
Her breath caught as she realized who the Borg was, which had come out of the nursery room. Chakotay's skin was paler than usual, but she recognized his face. Strange veins crisscrossed the left side of his face and he looked at her with a fixed stare.  
Kathryn tried to reach Aeria, but she couldn´t move. She felt as if she could only move in slow motion.  
The Borg grabbed Aerias arm again and two black, thin tubes shot out his wrist and buried in the girl's neck.  
"Mommy!", the girl screamed in panic.  
"Aeria!"  
At this moment, Kathryn woke up in her bed. She held the blanket with both hands and when she realized it had all been a terrible dream, she felt sick. She had to get up quickly and get some fresh air.

Kathryn hastened to come out of her bedroom and grabbed the long, silken bathrobe next to her bed. The living area of her home lit up when she entered. She quickly crossed the room and opened one of the glass doors. A gust of cool air enveloped her.  
Outside on the terrace she stopped in front of a railing. She had to hold onto it. Kathryn closed her eyes and she had to breathe for a moment. The freshened air had a soothing effect. Although the summer days were warm on Carea, the planet cooled at night noticeably. Caro and Cana, the two moons of the planet, were shining from heaven. The moon shone so bright and full that she couldn´t see the stars in the sky. It didn´t get really dark one Carea during full moon.  
The terrible feeling in her stomach slowly disappeared. She was relieved it had all been a bad dream. The urge to be sick at any moment, also vanished. She looked at the skyline of Berra. Between the distant skyscrapers on the other end of the city, small, floating missiles were moving. At this moment, Kathryn didn´t want think about Corellia, but the remembered the planet was in great danger. Whether the Corellians probably knew about it?  
Kathryn was startled when suddenly two arms wrapped around her and she was gently pressed against a warm body. "Are you okay?", Chakotay asked. When she realized it was him, she turned around and also threw her arms around him.  
She nodded slowly, "I had a terrible dream..."  
"I know. I hear you scream. Would you tell me what it was?"  
"No, it's too horrible."  
They didn´t speak for a moment. Kathryn enjoyed the warmth emanating from his sheltering embrace. "Will you forgive me?", she asked suddenly, "I didn´t want to argue with you."  
"The future Queen of Carea is my daughter. I am therefore more or less obliged to appeal to your conscience, my queen. And that you don´t always like my review, is normal."  
"Will you forgive me I have sent the Minister of Corellia away without help?", she asked.  
"You can rely on me and I'm always there for you. I promised I would always go with you..."  
"I think this time it would be wiser if I would go with YOU... Do you believe me when I say I already regret my decision?", she finally asked, "I shouldn´t have refused to help... Somehow I have a bad feeling..."

The next morning, Kathryn had recovered from her nightmare as best she could. She left her quarters, because she wanted to make her way to Voyager, which still docked in a hangar near the palace.  
When she stepped out of her quarters, she saw Chakotay and Tom who just spoke to Ensign Hickman. The three people looked very worried. From this distance, Kathryn couldn´t hear what they were talking. "Good morning, Your Majesty," Neelix finally greeted her.  
"Good morning," Kathryn replied, "Neelix, is everything fine?" She looked at Chakotay, Tom and Ensign Hickman. Neelix also could see the worried faces from this distance. "Ensign Sanders traveled to the Rekkara- system with a research- team of the Carean military and hasn´t returned yet..."  
"Since when is the team overdue?"  
"Since one week," Neelix knew what she wanted to ask next, "There is no audio contact. The ship disappeared. No one has seen it."  
When she and Neelix joined Chakotay and Tom, she pondered feverishly how far the Rekkara- system was from Carea. She did not know...  
Before Kathryn and Neelix reached the small group, Ensign Hickman nodded and walked away.  
"Ensign Hickman's husband is missing, is that true?", Kathryn asked and she saw how Tom and Chakotay exchanged a questioning look before they answered. "Yes, that's right."  
"What... What was that?" She immediately noticed something was wrong, "What do you hide from me?"  
Chakotay decided they had to tell her the truth. "Neelix talked to the Ambassador of Rekkara", while her husband said this, Kathryn watched the Talaxian which now also seemed very concerned, "Investigations revealed there were Borg activities in the Rekkara- system at the time in which the research team of Ensign Sanders was there."  
"We don´t know for sure yet, so we didn´t inform Ensign Hickman," Neelix added, "But wreckage of a ship were found. We suspect the research team and Ensign Sanders were attacked and assimilated by the Borg."

"What can we do?", Kathryn asked. This news came unexpected and she had to sit down because she felt terribly sick at the moment.  
"The Minister of Corellia has already left," Neelix told and the regret in his voice clearly was heard, "I'm afraid we are alone."  
"Yes," Kathryn said, nodding.  
"I will accompany you back to your quarters. You look pale", Neelix offered and Kathryn agreed. The Talaxian helped her getting up and accompanied her to the door that led to her quarters. Kathryn reached for the doorknob to the living room. But then she stopped. "Neelix, call the crew. Explain to them we need their help and we have to search for Ensign Sanders. Best, we leave today."  
"Yes, I will do my best." Neelix went away and Kathryn felt a hand on her back. "Let's go," Chakotay suggested, "You have to lie down a bit. After all, you gave birth to a baby a few days ago."  
"Yes."  
They entered the quarters and stopped there directly in the living area. Before them stood a young woman they had never seen before.  
"Who are you?", Kathryn asked.  
"I'm Cierra", the woman in the orange dress replied, "Janey had asked for assistance."  
"Alright," Kathryn agreed, "Cierra, pack your things. We leave the planet tonight. And help Janey to pack the bags of children."  
"Your Majesty," Cierra began, "I think you should leave the princesses on Carea. In case Voyager is destroyed and you are on board, it would be fatal, if the Crown Princess and Princess Riehsa were there, too."  
After Cierra had said this, Chakotay shook his head in warning.  
"My fate will be the fate of my children", Kathryn gave the young woman a stern look, "Pack your things and then help Janey. That´s an order."  
"Yes, Your Majesty," Cierra lowered her head and hurried to leave the quarters.  
As the heavy door slammed shut behind her, Kathryn exhaled in relief. "That´s all we needed," she muttered, "Someone who rides about the protocol."

Neelix kept his word and they decided Voyager would start on the same evening.  
Kathryn had agreed with Chakotay they wanted to meet in the hangar. He had already been there for hours because he wanted to check the ship. Kathryn didn´t know if it was a standard procedure, but she had no time to think about this.  
In Janey's accompaniment she used the elevator to get to the level in which the Voyager still docked. The complete hangar was so brightly lit this late time that they could no longer see the stars in the sky. Through the glass front of the elevator, they had a perfect view on the different levels of the hangars.  
That Kathryn responded to an unpleasant twinge on her collar, caught Janey's attention. "Something wrong?"  
"I don´t fit back into my old battle suit." Kathryn decided to ignore the pinching of her black leather battle suit. If her husband was now with her, he would tell her with certainty, she should remain on Carea because she gave birth to a baby a few days ago, but it was her duty to accompany the crew on this mission.  
Kathryn held her breath when she saw Voyager. It was still an impressive ship, even though it had only left the orbit of Carea for diplomatic trips in the recent years. Kathryn never stayed away from the hangar for more than one week. (Only once, when Aeria was suffering from a cold and needed her mother.)  
"Your Majesty, I am glad I can accompany you on this mission," she heard Janey say worried, "I have a feeling we won´t see the planet again."  
Kathryn turned briefly to look at her, "Don´t say that."  
"Yes, of course. Sorry, Your Majesty."  
The elevator reached the level at which Voyager was and they got out. Kathryn walked between some crew members who were still in the hangar and chatted.  
"The ship has not left the hangar for six months," Tom said, looking at the vessel, "I hope, the old girl is still able to fly. I'm afraid the landing gear is rusty."  
"The landing gear is perfectly fine," B'Elanna corrected him, "I really shouldn´t be here. The child could come at any moment...", B'Elanna told Samantha Wildman and Harry Kim, "Please don´t tell the doctor."  
"What, if he sees you on board?", Harry asked and B'Elanna rolled her eyes.  
Kathryn finally met Cierra, who fought with a heavy suitcase, which had to be loaded. "Where are Aeria and Riehsa?", she asked.  
"Already on board," the young woman replied.  
"Excellent, I wanted to make sure." She and Janey joined Chakotay.  
"General, I... Um, I mean... Captain. Captain, I don´t know if it´s wise to fly off without a plan", Janey said.  
"We have a plan," Kathryn corrected and sent Janey away. Her voice was soft when she and Chakotay were alone, "I heard the entire crew is here..."  
"Yes, that's right," Chakotay was busy to inspect the vessel from the outside, "They have all arrived." But then he corrected himself, "All, but Ensign Sanders."  
"Let's go inside. It's time."  
"Yes, my queen."

"Captain on the bridge," Ensign Swift said when Chakotay, Kathryn, Tom and Harry stepped out of the lift. All present officers stretched and turned their eyes to the front.  
"At ease," Chakotay walked over to Ensign Swift, "What is the status of the ship?"  
While they were talking, Kathryn sat down on Tom's command chair to check the team list. She wondered how Cierra had registered the girls. She exhaled in relief when she saw her children's names on the list, queued under the letter H for 'Her Royal Highness Princess Aeria and Riehsa of Carea'. Cierra was telling the truth.  
"Are the stations ready?", Chakotay sat down on the Captains-chair.  
"Defense ready, Sir," Harry replied.  
"Operations ready."  
"Engine room ready," B'Elanna reported via Com.  
"B'Elanna?", Chakotay asked in astonishment, "You shouldn´t be here."  
"I insisted. Even Tom couldn´t stop me. "  
"Sick bay ready", the doctor confirmed, "Of course I know that Mrs. Torres is also on board. The team list was presented to me."  
Tom, who occupied the navigation, rolled his eyes. He didn´t want to miss flying the ship out of this hangar in person. "Navigation ready, Captain."  
Chakotay looked at Kathryn. "Then Start."

Their plan was to fly to the Rekkara- system where the research team led by Ensign Sanders was last seen. When it should turn out Ensign Sanders had indeed been assimilated by the Borg, they would gear on the performance of the Enterprise crew, who had managed to free Captain Picard from the Borg. Chakotay showed Kathryn records of this mission and asked her what she thought of it and Kathryn read the report with great interest.  
Ayala, who occupied the Operations, scanned the planetary system and he was disappointed he couldn´t tell them a positive message: "Captain, I'm sorry. There is no trace of the spaceship... At least some debris should be left."  
"All right. Scan on. "  
"Yes, sir."  
Chakotay now turned to Harry at the security station. "Something?"  
"No Borg activity."  
The captain nodded, but he didn´t know if that was good or bad. He watched how Kathryn passed him and like a cat she walked in circles on the bridge. If she would go on like this, then the carpet would be ruined soon, he thought.  
"We are already here for five hours," Kathryn noted, "I think we should scan another sector."  
"Agreed. Tom, head towards the nearest planetary system and...", Chakotay was interrupted by a shrill alarm that came from Harry's station.  
"Sir!", all of a sudden Harry was tense, "A Borg cube 5,000,000 kilometers away!"  
"That's not all," Ensign Ayala now interjected, "If my data agree, it´s the same cube, which was located in the system, as Sanders' spaceship disappeared. The records of Rekkara prove it."  
"Shields up! Red alert!", Exclaimed Chakotay and immediately the bridge darkened.  
"Can you already show us the cube?", asked Kathryn, who now excited in front Ayala's station. He nodded and a cube-shaped spacecraft appeared on the main screen. A cold shiver ran down Kathryn's body. This was the moment which she had most feared.  
"Keep us in the background", Chakotay said, "We will watch and wait..."


	5. The dark menace Part II

Title: The dark menace Part II  
Author: Dancing Star  
Pairing: Janeway/ Chakotay  
Spoiler: Faded I-III  
Rating: 12  
Category: AU, Romance  
Content: It´s time for the attacks of the Borg…  
Notes: …And It´s also time for more questions... :-) By the way, I hope my English doesn´t sound like Master Yoda.

The dark menace Part II

The hours in which they now pursued the Borg cube unnoticed dragged on. While the crew was preparing for the fight, Kathryn watched how Harry, Tom and Ayala devised a plan to search for Ensign Sanders at the Borg ship. "Gentlemen, would you please tell me," Kathryn said and Tom stepped aside so she could participate in their conversation.  
Ayala, at who´s station they were, showed her the cube on a screen. "The scans have been completed. Thanks to B'Elannas idea of a skeleton detection, we know where Sanders is."  
"And where is that?"  
"He is in a section of the cube, called sub-node 01."  
"You said B'Elanna made a skeleton detection", she recalled, "Does that mean we can beam him out?"  
"No, that won´t be possible", now Harry chimed in, "The containment field in this part of the ship has to be turned off first."  
"That means, someone would have to go in and turn it off", Kathryn combined and suddenly no one said a word. "This is the famous fly in the ointment," Tom confirmed, "The Enterprise crew was able to snatch the assimilated Captain Picard and then freed him."  
"I will...", before Kathryn couldn´t end the sentence, Chakotay contacted her via Com. He wanted to talk to her, but wasn´t more specific. "Excuse me," Kathryn said to the three officers and made her way into his ready room.  
"You wanted to talk to me?", She had no idea about what.  
"Yes, but not here," he suggested they should go to the turbolift. Kathryn wondered what was wrong, and when he got out on the deck, where the shuttle bay was, she was perplexed. Finally they stopped in front of the massive door, behind which the shuttles were.  
"Where are we going?", she asked and at that moment her husband pulled her closer to kiss her. She was confused, but the intensity of his kiss overwhelmed her and finally she gave in.  
But something was wrong. She felt it.  
"That was a farewell kiss, am I right?"  
"Yes," Chakotay replied, "You know, it's not my nature to run away from things. But I have priorities. My first priority should be to protect my crew, but this changed when Aeria was born. You and our children are my first priority. And although it was your wish, I came to the conclusion it´s better for you, if you don´t find yourself aboard this ship."  
"But…!"  
"No, let me finish," he asked, "I was thinking about how to tell you. In short: I want you and the children return to Carea. We take care of the Borg."  
"No... I can´t," she muttered.  
"You have to," Chakotay spoke to her conscience, "Go to the shuttle. The children and Janey are already on board."  
For a few seconds she seemed to think about it. He was almost calm, but then she looked at him with a determined look, which almost frightened him. "When we set out on this mission, I knew what will happen", she confirmed, "That's why I'll stay here and if you don´t like, you'll have to throw me in the brig."

Inwardly Chakotay was cursing himself because he gave in. It wasn´t possible for him to protect his children from danger, so he needed an advice. He decided to ask someone for advice he hadn´t seen for a long time and so he forbade Kathryn at least, to enter their quarters in the next hour. Chakotay told her, he had to contact his Animal consultant and told her she had already tried. He asked if she remembered how he told B'Elanna was the only person who had tried to kill the animal consultants, but she had to deny.  
Chakotay sat alone in the dark quarters. His medicine bundle was spread out before him on the ground and finally he reached for a black, smooth stone. He decided he wanted to talk to another person.  
"Ackoochemoya. I am far from the bones and sacred steppes of my grandfathers. And so I hope to be able to speak to my father in my desperation... Father, please speak to me in my dreams."  
Suddenly he was no longer on the ship. His mind was on the plateau of a mountain where his father was waiting for him. He was wearing a beige shirt and a hat. Just as Chakotay remembered him. "My son, look at the stars", Kolopak asked him when he gazed at the sky. Chakotay looked at the sky, too, and realized he could see a small, almost orange star in the south. Venus. There were seasons in which the planet was able to be seen.  
"I haven´t seen you for a long time, my son," the elder Indian now said, "What brings you here?" They sat down and he watched how his father painted a drawing into the sandy ground with a branch.  
"Father, I need your advice," he finally told, "I have found The One that is meant for me."  
His father's eyes lit up, "Tell me about her."  
"I wish you could met her... We know each other for almost six years. Four years ago we crushed on a planet and she has lost her memory. As a result, she couldn´t remember me", Chakotay missed out the details Kathryn since then considered herself to be the Queen of Carea and in fact she was, "We decided we didn´t want to lose time and meanwhile we have a daughter at the age of two and a half years and a newborn."  
"Then why do you need my help?"  
"War rages, Father. My plan was to get my wife and children out of this situation, but she is stubborn, like a wild horse. She refuses to let me do my duty..." But her rebellion was something that attracted him to Kathryn.  
"So you came here because you have problems with your wife?", his father recognized.  
"No," his face changed, "I came here because I don´t know what to do to protect them."  
Kolopak saw something in his son's face, what could be despair. "For sure I'm not the right partner for this problem. War is not me, and you know", he said, "But why do YOU decide about the fate of your family? There´s a reason while you call your wife the love of your life. Talk to her. I´m sure she´ll understand." A dark cloud moved in front of the moon, and for a moment the plateau on which they sat darkened. When the cloud was gone, Chakotay was sitting alone on the flat top of the mountain.

An hour later, Janey and Cierra entered the Queens´ home.  
"You wanted to see us, Your Majesty," Cierra began and Kathryn asked her and Janey to sit down.  
"You now have to listen to us very well," Kathryn said seriously to the two young women. She looked worried when Chakotay sat down beside her on the couch. Janey and Cierra sat opposite them.  
"I want you to hide with the princesses on Voyager. And when the time is right, you will go to bridge and fly the ship away… You know how this works, right?"  
"Commander Paris gave me four or five lessons", Janey confirmed.  
"One of the standard procedures of the Borg is to segregate the waste which accumulates on the ships into space before they jump to transwarp. You will exploit this process. "  
"But...!", Janey didn´t understand, "But what do you mean?"  
"This is not easy for the Queen," Chakotay replied, reaching for the hand of his wife, "She want´s to say you should leave the ship if the mission fails and the crew gets assimilated." He needed to take a break. This was the plan they had made.  
"What, if the Borg destroy the ship?"  
"This won´t happen…."  
"You will hide the children from the Borg", Kathryn explained, "Maybe it's safer if you separate Aeria and Riehsa. Hide them on separate planets."  
Tears welled up in Janey's eyes and she wiped them away. "Of course."  
"And promise me you will give this to Aeria someday if we fail," Kathryn handed Janey a box of dark brown wood. The box was decorated with carvings. Janey knew it was a hobby of the General. "What is it?", she asked, Kathryn allowed her to open the box. Janey gasped when she saw the Royal Band of Carea. There was another glittering object and she recognized the elegant tiara immediately: "That's your crown," her voice sounded horrified, "You need to keep it."  
"I want you to give it to Aeria when she is old enough," Kathryn added, "In the box there is also a chip. I prepared a letter, which will explain our situation."  
Janey nodded.  
"Your Majesty, where exactly should we hide the princesses?", Cierra wanted to know.  
"Take that," Chakotay gave Janey a padd, "Don´t tell anyone, not even Cierra", he ignored how disappoint she looked at this moment, "Just you and I will know where to find the children."  
"Your Majesty?", Janey looked questioningly to Kathryn, who nodded, but Janey could see she didn´t agree basically. Not even she would know where the children were.  
"Now go," Chakotay asked her, "Before we change our mind."  
"Aye, sir." Janey and Cierra hastily picked up the children, leaving Kathryn and Chakotay alone in their quarters.  
Kathryn wiped a tear from her face. "Did you ever think we couldn´t make it?", she asked, her voice trembled, "The fact we couldn´t return from this mission?"  
"I think about it all the time," he replied.  
"Pleas hold me", she said, "Hold me like you did in that hangar on Carea back then."  
He embraced Kathryn so she could lean her head against his chest while she started crying.

Janey, Cierra and the children on their way to the hiding place, which was described by the Padd when Voyager was hit by a violent shock. With Riehsa on her arm Janey swayed to the left, but she steadied herself against the wall. "Will you finally tell me where we're going?", Cierra asked still frustrated.  
"I can´t tell you. I promised. "Janey didn´t have to answer actually, because they now stood at the door, which led to the Sick Bay.

"What happened?", Chakotay asked when he and Kathryn stepped out of the elevator at the same time. They saw on the main screen that the Borg cube flew in their direction.  
"Everything´s fine!", Harry called.  
"Is that the reason why the Red Alert was triggered again?"  
The bridge was dark and all the officers seemed tense. "Mister Kim, what happened?", Kathryn snapped and she felt the eyes of the crew on her back. They felt remembered to a moment in which she was the captain.  
"The cube must have discovered us," Ayala reported, "It fired at us. Shields are at 90%."  
"Battle stations!", Chakotay ordered.  
The doors to the bridge opened again and Tom entered. "On your station Commander", Chakotay said, because he had already wondered where he was.  
"Captain, they scan us!", Harry reported. A green beam flooded the whole ship. They saw on the main screen how the Borg ship then changed its position.  
"We are the Borg", now a monotonous, scratchy voice said, "Disable your shields and give up. We´ll add your biological and technological characteristics to ours. Your culture will adapt to serve us. Resistance is futile!"

"Have we been attacked?", the doctor nervously asked. "I think the Borg have fired on us," Janey confirmed. Riehsa wept on her arm and of course she didn´t miss how Aeria looked at her worried.  
"Are you hurt?"  
"No, but we need your help," Janey added, "Help us to hide the children?"  
"But how? I'm a doctor, not a particle- neutralizer…!"  
"Doctor!", Janey was suddenly dead serious, "This is an order of General Chakotay."  
She saw how torn the doctor was. "What should I do?"  
"I will ask you to delete the traces of our communicators from the database... Then we have to leave. In addition, you are right: We need a Particle- neutralizer..."  
"Where do you go?"  
"The general has commanded I shouldn´t tell you. The less you know, the better, Doc." Janey was relieved the hologram resigned.

Another shot hit the ship. "Shields down!", Harry reported. Sweat broke out on his forehead.  
"The cube comes closer!", Ayala cried and showed it to them on the screen. Their hearts almost stopped when they saw how close the cube came.  
"What are they up to?", Kathryn asked distressed.  
A ramp opened and a tractor beam captured Voyager.  
"They draw us in now," Harry confirmed.  
"Captain!", Ayala shouted when a Borg appeared before his station. He drew his phaser and fired. The drone crashed to the ground. At this moment, two more drones appeared on the bridge.  
"Captain, we´re boarded!", Harry reported. He did it the same as Ayala and fired his phaser, but the drone had been adjusted to the energy intensity of the gun. Harry hit the drone, but the Borg reached for him and threw him over his console. He landed hard on the floor.  
All the stations reported that Borg drones had appeared, which disarmed the crew. Kathryn didn´t understand. What happened here?  
"Leave the ship or I´ll destroy it", Chakotay said but the Borg didn´t care.  
"Computer, activate self-destruction...", the captain began, but the computer didn´t confirm: A Borg had also haked in the system and shut down the computer.  
"We are Borg", the monotonous, mechanical voice repeated, "You will surrender. Resistance is futile."  
One of the drones had some kind of weapon in his hand and the other Borg disarmed the crew. They led the senior officers off the bridge.

Very few crewmembers had ever imagined to enter a Borg cube. Many of them were afraid when they were led through the ship. The environment seemed mechanical and cold.  
Kathryn saw a drone which led them with a gun in the back through the cube. Under the black armor the person was still wearing a Starfleet uniform. "Ensign Sanders...!", she whispered. Then a male drone grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the group. She tried to fight, to hold Chakotays hand, but it was pointless: The drone didn´t pay attention to her protest. Kathryn watched how the rest of the crew was brought to a kind of prison ward while the drone dragged her into a hall. There she was forced to sit on a chair. Shackles shot out of the armrests and Kathryn realized she couldn´t escape.  
"At last we meet," a female voice said, "I knew I would meet you here."  
Kathryn looked around and discovered the head and shoulders of a woman who was lowered from the ceiling with cables. She saw the twitch of the spine before the bottom flaps opened, of which an upper body and limbs shot out and combined with the organic part of the body. The Borg Queen rolled her shoulders until her body had assembled and Kathryn heard the artificial joints crack.  
"Who are you?", Kathryn knew the question was superfluous. She had read about the Queen of the Borg already in the Voyager- database. She conducted billions of drones and was like the queen of an insect state. Usually she didn´t spent time on board a cube and Kathryn wondered why she made an exception.  
"I am Borg. I am the beginning, the end. The one that is a lot."  
"Oh, your reputation precedes you: Wherever you show up, war, destruction and death rage."  
"We spread perfection, tranquility, unity. You and your planet will learn what that means. "  
"You will leave Carea alone!", Kathryn yelled, "Carea is a peaceful world. It was never our intention to interfere. We did that to help the Corellian and then... "  
"The Corellian", the Borg Queen repeated, "Their properties have been added to ours. The same will happen to the Carean people. "  
"No!"  
The Borg Queen raised her hand. "Don´t fight back..."  
Kathryn cried out when a fine tube gouged in her left forearm and she tried to get out of the holder. The liquid, which floated through the tube in her veins, burned like fire. "What's this?"  
"A technology we owe Species 6345", it was the last thing she could hear, while the burning poison increasingly spread in her body.  
Kathryn was suddenly no longer at the Borg ship but in the house, which she and Chakotay inhabited during a trip to the Carea-moon Caro. The moon Caro had its own atmosphere and was covered by a vegetation. Quite unlike Carea, which was covered by a desert continent and a green continent with major cities and an ocean. Caro was a popular destination. The Carea- moon Cana was an atmosphere-less landscape. They had made this trip because Chakotay previously supported a two-week mission to Sacala. Although they had talked to each other several time, but it was more intense to feel the partner nearby.  
"That's not real," Kathryn noted.  
"It´s your favorite memories."  
She noticed she even wore the same cream-colored nightgown and a familiar voice on the other end of the room caught her attention. She turned around and saw that her husband entered the room. "Aeria is asleep meanwhile," he said cheerfully to her.  
Kathryn glanced over her shoulder and realized the Borg Queen was gone.  
"You look beautiful," Chakotay now said to Kathryn, taking a step towards her. When he stood in front of her, he didn´t hesitate and took the opportunity to kiss her. "No...", she muttered, but just like in her memory the dresser behind her stopped her escape. She knew very well how this night ended: He had swept her long hair to the side so he could kiss her neck and pressed her impatiently against the dresser, while his mouth wandered over her collarbone and he the narrow strap of her backless nightdress slipped off her shoulders. At that time she followed her feelings. It was a fantastic night was and when she was trying to sleep in his arms exhausted and breathless, she never wanted to let him go.  
"We shouldn´t do that," she repeated in the here and now and Chakotay stepped back for a moment. "We didn´t have to lead this type of discussion for a long time," he remarked.  
"I think we should bring a little space between us..."  
"Space was invented by people who are afraid of closeness," he murmured, his lips tickling her skin.  
"I'm sorry," Kathryn took a step back, "But this is not real... You're not real. "  
"Why do you say that?", he followed her.  
"Because it's true... I can´t let it happen that the Borg Queen steals our memory. "  
"I don´t know what you're talking about, honey." Once again he tried to kiss her.  
Kathryn tried to push him away, but he was stronger than she. "I said no!", she cried now and managed to bring about a meter distance between them.  
"Can you tell me where the children are?", he asked now.  
"Children?", She realized immediately what was going on, "We currently have only one child. And this is why I know you're not real", she said, when the room seemed to darken, "In addition, my husband never called me honey."  
A sharp pain slammed into her temple and Kathryn clung with all her power to her consciousness. She wasn´t strong enough to defend against the Borg, who grabbed her shoulder and pulled her with him.

When the Borg threw her in her cell and activated the force field, Chakotay wasn´t there. Kathryn stumbled. There was a small wound, which was a puncture on her left temple.  
"Are you all right?", Harry asked, who shared a cell shared with Tom.  
"As fine as I can be," she answered, "Where is Chakotay?"  
Harry and Tom exchanged a worried look. "They took him away five minutes ago."

The Borg, who had brought Chakotay in this room five minutes ago, had forced him to sit down in a sort of chair. Of course, he had resisted, but Borg was stronger. Secretly he wondered why they didn´t simply assimilate him and the rest of the crew.  
"General Chakotay," a clear voice said to him and his heart skipped a beat when he saw the shape of the Borg Queen.  
"Let me go!"  
"That's not possible," the Borg Queen said to him, "I know who you are, General. You are the father of the Crown Princess of Carea. Voyager- Captain. Guardian of the planet Carea... I know everything about you, General." Her voice was gentle and when she passed him, she smiled blissfully.  
"If that's true, then you also know your plan will fail. Whatever you do, it won´t work. I'll be stronger than you."  
"Your courage is extremely nobel, General. But you will fail. Your human characteristics and emotions make you weak. Your doubt to be not good enough for the Queen of Carea, makes you vulnerable, frivolous, transparent. You are torn between protecting the planet by fighting against the Borg, or arise... "  
"I won´t surrender. I'd rather die fighting than to surrender. "  
"That won´t be necessary," her voice said, "I will learn from you everything I need to know."  
He was startled when a fine tube gouged in his left forearm. The liquid, which was passed through the tube burned in his body. "What's this?"  
Chakotay noticed how her quiet voice said next to his ear he would be gradually poisoned. The burning liquid spread in his body and Chakotay was surprised when he suddenly found himself in Kathryns quarter on Voyager. Kathryn came just out of the bathroom and was going to plait her long hair in a braid. He was a bit worried about her because only several hours ago she had learned her planet was destroyed. "I'm ready. Let's go to the bridge... But first we certainly have time for breakfast. I'm starving", she confessed and left her quarter," I hope the crew doesn´t talk too much about us, "she said on the way to the lift. He remembered exactly this day: Last night they left the wedding of the ensigns Hickman and Sanders together.  
Both entered the lift and wished Ensign Wildman good morning. On deck two Samantha got out and they were alone. Immediately Kathryn stepped towards him and threw her arms around his neck. "How are we going to get through the day?", she murmured, kissing him.  
"You better stay away from me. If you come to close I don´t guarantee for anything... "  
He heard her laughing before she stepped out, as if nothing had happened. He followed her and watched how Neelix at the casino immediately arranged they both got a table. "What do you recommend, Neelix?", Kathryn started a conversation and she could see the Talaxian felt almost honored by this question.  
"Thanks Mister Paris can I recommend a drink which is called cappuccino. It´s an Italian specialty."  
"Italian?"  
"Yes. According to Mister Paris Italy is a beautiful country on earth." Neelix laughed and told her he could not judge, because he has never been on earth and Kathryn decided to order a cup. Then she looked at Chakotay and reached across the table for his hand. He remembered how happy he was at that moment because he no longer had to hide his feelings for her from the crew. Everything suddenly felt so light and he was glad her invisible barrier no longer existed. Even at this moment he could feel how much she loved him.  
Chakotay knew it was an illusion, but he regret when it faded and the Borg Queen appeared again. "There is another preferred memory," she remarked and again a hot needle gouged in Chakotay's temple. The pain flooded his body, seconds later, he was with Kathryn and Aeria in their quarters at the Royal Palace on Carea. He remembered very well, because it had been only seven months ago. "I don´t understand this tradition of your home planet," Kathryn said.  
"Our home planet," he corrected and handed her a box, "It's quite a shame you can´t remember Christmas. It's a nice holiday." And so he gave her a present every year at which it was Christmas according to earth calendar. That she couldn´t also remember snow, was unfortunate and it also didn´t exist on Carea. "Merry Christmas, Love."  
The packaged box immediately caught Aeria´s attention. "Daddy, where's my gift?", she asked, leaping excitedly.  
Kathryn almost felt guilty because she had forgotten Christmas. But then she had an idea, and rose from the couch where she was sitting. "Come on, your gift is waiting for you outside", she said, grabbed his hand and they entered the terrace.  
"Why do we have to go outside for my gift?"  
"I don´t want Aeria to hear it."  
He put his brow. "Hear what?"  
"It's still a bit early for and I'm not sure if she already understands...", Kathryn realized how perplexed he was, "Something wonderful has happened. I'm pregnant."  
"That's great," Chakotay pulled her closer and hugged her tightly, "Since when do you know?"  
"I´m nine weeks pregnant... Believe me, it was quite difficult to keep that secret from you. I wanted to tell you about the baby immediately."  
At this moment Aeria appeared at the door and obviously she had heard them. "Mommy?", Aeria stretched out her arms to them and Chakotay picked her up. The princess asked if it was true her mother would have a new baby and when Kathryn confirmed, Aeria turned to her father. "Daddy, where's the Princess?", she asked.  
He was confused for a moment. "What do you mean, Aeria?"  
"Where is Princess Aeria?"  
Why would she...? Chakotay sensed immediately something was wrong. This part of the memory wasn´t real. With a strange feeling in his stomach he dropped her off. "You're not real." Once again, the memory faded and the shape which had been Aeria, vanished. This time a painful burning shot in his head.  
"Take him away," he heard a woman's voice before he lost consciousness.

Chakotay was plagued by headache, when the Borg threw him into his cell. Kathryn was instantly with him and helped him to lie down. "Are you okay?", she asked anxiously.  
"I feel terrible," he said.  
There was a trickle of blood and a small puncture on his left temple. "I know," Kathryn muttered, "I have the same procedure behind me."  
When he was able to lie down, the turning feeling which almost felt as if he lost ground, disappeared. Kathryn gently led him, so he could put his head on her lap.  
"Why don´t they assimilate us?", Kathryn asked.  
"Because they can´t," Tom remarked, "The Borg - Queen needs us. But why?" While Tom watched them, he thought an immediate assimilation spare them a lot, but he shouldn´t have such thoughts.  
"There are planets which aren´t worthwhile for the Borg," said Harry, "The new Preem- home world for example", their perplexed look almost asked him to tell them: "When we were brought here, we passed an assimilation chamber. I also saw a group of dead Preem. Apparently assimilation failed: It looked as if the Borg weren´t able to provide their bodies with cybernetic components."  
"Doesn´t surprise me," Tom scoffed and Kathryn envied the Preem at this moment.  
"Maybe Carea is a not rewarding world," Harry said with a seriousness of which was a rare occurrence.  
"That would be nice," Kathryn snorted absently, but she knew it wasn´t true.  
"And also...", Harry continued, "... Assimilating the Kazon isn´t worth it, too. Borg describe the Kazon as primitive and underdeveloped. "  
"She tried to take advantage of my greatest weakness," Chakotay interrupted their conversation now. He straightened up and his head hurt even more.  
"I know," Kathryn admitted, "She showed me you."  
"And I saw you." His greatest strength was also its greatest weakness.  
Suddenly Kathryn looked very frightened.  
"What's wrong?", Chakotay asked.  
"You said she uses our weakest point. But that´s not us...", Kathryn realized and he knew immediately what she meant. "The children...?", Chakotay asked.  
"She can´t find them... And she hopes our memories will take her to them." Kathryn had no idea what exactly the plan of the Borg Queen was. Maybe she thought she could get them to turn against the children when she manipulated their memories long enough.  
"But why?", Harry asked, "What does she want from your children?"  
"That's obvious. She wants us to suffer."

In the cell, Kathryn had lost all sense of time. She didn´t know if hours or days had passed. Shivering she squatted on the cold metal bed, which was the only reclining surface in the cell. Chakotay sat next to her and when he realized how cold she was, he put an arm around her, so she could snuggle up to him. Normally, the temperature in Borg ships was about 38 degrees. He suspected the Borg let fall the temperature in this area of the vessel intentionally.  
"Are you feeling better?", Chakotay asked when he rubbed the icy hands of his wife.  
"Yes", she thought for a second, "But I'm tired... And hungry. We will probably won´t get food."  
"No," Tom agreed with her to from his cell. The Borg didn´t need any rest phases: The alcove had to regenerate only necessary technical features.  
"The Borg Queen said to me, our human qualities make us weak," Chakotay remembered, "Seems like she was right." Her fatigue caused by the poison, made a spanner in the works. His physiology responded less sensitive and he suspected it was because he had more muscle mass as she had.  
Just as he had finished this thought, the force field of their cell was deactivated and two massive Borg drones occurred. "Which of us do you want?", Kathryn asked sluggish and the male drone raised his hand to point to her.

The drone forced her again to sit on the chair where her hands have been forced into the toxic mechanism.  
Like a cat the Borg Queen circled around her and fixed her. "I´m slowly losing my patience, Queen."  
"Didn´t you add patience to your collective by assimilating some species here and there?", Kathryn replied, but the Borg Queen ignored her comment. Instead, again a tube drilled in Kathryn's left forearm. The poison caused a burning pain in her body.  
"No," she murmured and suddenly Kathryn found herself in a landscape, she'd never seen before. The meadow beneath her feet was glorious green and also the forest shone in all its glory. Behind her there was a mountain and in front of her was a river. She wore a red dress and over her shoulder hung a bag. She realized, where she was because Chakotay had told her about this place: He called it New Earth and they were stranded here a few years ago. This was before her memory loss, so she couldn´t remember.  
A splash in the river caught her attention. Kathryn saw a blue head emerging from the water and when she waved the shape disappeared under water. She left the river because Chakotay called for her and she decided to return to their home. This strange encounter made her thinking and when they lay side by side in bed at night, he held her in his arms and dozed on. He knew this closeness had a calming effect on her while she told him about the strange creature in the river, from which she thought it was Bolian. "I'm scared," she said, "What, if the shape's dangerous? There´s no reason to hide…" She was also interested in how a Bolian came in the Delta Quadrant.  
The next day they both passed the river and discovered two Bolian. After they had met, they invited the two for a meal in their accommodation, but Kathryn noticed an hour later, how a spaceship took off and flew away. The two Bolian were never seen again.  
"Where are the children?", Chakotay asked. His voice was calm.  
"What?"  
"The children. Where are they?"  
"I don´t know... I really don´t know", this moment of inattention owed Kathryn a stabbing pain, which slammed into her skull. This time more than ever. All of a sudden the illusion was faded. Before she lost consciousness, she realized she had never seen a Bolian on New Earth. She had been lured into a trap... Kathryn lost consciousness.  
The Borg Queen, who was standing right in front of her seemed to be frustrated. But she was now richer by the realization Kathryn apparently really had no idea where the children were.

Since Kathryn had to leave the cell, Chakotay walked around restlessly. After a while he heard her crying and not being able to help her almost broke his heart. Angrily, his fist crashed against the force field.  
"Chakotay, you don´t want the Borg to pay too much attention", B'Elanna warned him, who had to share a cell with Ensign Wildman and her daughter Naomi.  
He didn´t care if he would get too much attention. If he needed to he would fight against the Borg in person. Two drones were lured by the faults which he caused in the force field. When they noted he wasn´t able to break out, they retired. They were hardly gone when the spacecraft trembled and suddenly the force fields in front of their cells failed.  
The crew was just tired and exhausted, but now they felt wide awake. "Come on!", B'Elanna cried, getting up. Tom, who was next door, came in and helped her. When they ran, Harry wondered whether it was wise to break out of the cells.  
"Go to the ship!", Chakotay ordered, "I have to search for the queen." While the crew hurried past him, Chakotay ran in the opposite direction.

He could remember the way to the chamber in which he met the Borg Queen very well. Therefore, it was easy to find his wife: Because he had once seen how the Borg led her in the same direction, he decided to open the left door this time. Relieved, he noted the door wasn´t locked. Chakotay gasped when he saw his wife sitting unconscious in a chair in the middle of the room. "Kathryn...", he hastened to get to her and lifted up her chin so he could see her face. He felt her pulse. Blood ran down her temple.  
"Dearest...", she muttered wearily.  
"The force fields of the cells have failed," he informed her when he put her arm around his shoulders and lifted her up, "Hold on. I'll get out of here."  
"Behind you...", she whispered, her eyes fluttered.  
"What?"  
"Behind you…"  
He didn´t see the figure standing in the glaring spotlight and watching him. "I always thought the mother knows everything about her children. Even their whereabouts...", the Borg Queen said," I had never expected it´s the father this time... "

To be continued...


	6. The dark menace Part III

Title: The dark menace Part III  
Author: Dancing Star  
Pairing: Janeway / Chakotay  
Spoiler: Faded I-III  
Rating: 12  
Category: AU, Romance, SciFi  
What happens: Will the crew escape the Borg?  
Comments: I wish the Imperial March could be heard, when the Borg Queen enters the room :-)

The dark menace Part III

"Behind you...", Kathryn repeated, "The Borg Queen is behind you."  
Chakotays brain took a second to process this information.  
"Captain, have you ever wondered what your wife really is?... You know, two individuals can never have the same identity," she said, "But sometimes two identities share a body. I can help you find out what your wife is." Her voice was sweet and gentle, but he saw through it immediately.  
The next moment, the beam of a phaser shot past his head and the Borg Queen fell to the ground.  
Harry and Tom entered the room.  
"What are you doing here?", Chakotay asked while he lifted up Kathryn.  
"Saving your life," Tom replied.  
"Didn´t I say you should go to Voyager?"  
"And let you both getting assimilated?... By the way, my pleasure, Captain." Tom saw how Chakotay rolled his eyes, when he carried his weak woman. As they ran, Chakotay couldn´t help but to turn around again and he saw that the Borg Queen was still moving. "Most crewmembers already boarded," Harry informed them, "We have asked Neelix to tell when all are complete."  
They ran past a corridor full of Borg and a special shape caught their attention. "There is Ensign Sanders", Harry muttered.  
"Not now!", Tom admonished him, "We will come back a different time and get him."  
Harry nodded, but before he left the hall, he reached for a data node and ripped it out of the holder. This alerted the Borg immediately: The turned and ran towards them. Tom used his phaser and a Borg fell to the ground.  
"How far is it to Voyager?", Chakotay asked. Kathryn was getting heavy.  
"We're almost there," Tom answered and indeed they reached the hatch of the vessel.  
"Put me down," Kathryn asked her husband, "I'm feeling better..."  
He knew she was lying, because he could see how she swayed when he set her down.  
"The communication system is working," Tom informed them, "B'Elanna is already in the engineering."  
They made their way there. Everybody was stressed out. "Captain, good to see you here," B'Elanna said, "Are you all right?"  
"According to the circumstances, B'Elanna. What do you think how long it will take until the computer is rebooted?", asked Chakotay.  
"I don´t know."  
"Then estimate...!"  
"Neelix to Commander Paris", at this moment Neelix reported, "I´m at hatch two. The crew is complete, sir."  
"Very good, Neelix," Tom now turned to his pregnant wife, "Is the warp core online?"  
"Yes, why…."  
"We won´t remain forever at the Borg ship," he reminded her, "Let's go to the bridge. I can´t wait to leave this place."  
Kathryn and Chakotay agreed. In a data terminal in the engineering Chakotay called information about their current status. "Where are we?", Kathryn asked , when she saw his strained expression.  
"I don´t know, we have to wait for the long distance scans. That means, if the computer ever works again... "  
He saw the scan of a pink cloud of gas, which was located in close proximity. "Captain to the bridge," he tapped his communicator, "Is the bridge occupied?"  
"Ayala here. Captain, something strange happens here..."  
They could hear marvel in Ayala's voice and Kathryn and Chakotay looked at each other in horror. "Describe it to us," Tom demanded.  
"I don´t know. It... It looks like the Borg release us."  
"Release?", Kathryn repeated just in disbelief, "What is the Borg Queen doing?" She drove a devious game with them. Kathryn still wondered why she wanted just Aeria and Riehsa.  
"Doesn´t matter," Chakotay decided "We will exploit that. Ayala, I send data of a mist. We will hide there for a while. Steer Voyager into that fog. Commander Paris and I are on the way to you." If he wasn´t mistaken the crew of the Enterprise had also once hidden before the Borg in a mist.  
"Aye, Sir", Ayala confirmed, "Captain, we are waiting on the bridge." He ended their conversation.  
"Let's go," Chakotay suggested, but he was stopped by Harry, who passed to the crew members, who were in the engine room and he advised them to return to their stations.  
"Look at that!", Harry exclaimed, handing B'Elanna a black block of metal .  
"What's that?", she asked.  
"A data store, I have stolen it," Harry replied.  
"This could help us... We may take a while until we have decrypted the data, but I think it will be worthwhile."  
"Bring it to Ensign Wildman," Chakotay agreed. He hoped the data nodes provided information that could help them somehow.  
"Aye, sir."  
They watched as Harry walked away. "We'd better get on the way to the bridge," Kathryn suggested.  
"Agreed," B'Elanna said, "I can check from there, if the computer is fully working."  
They walked to the turbolift and were about ten seconds on the road when they were shaken by a brief quake. The lights went out.  
"What was that?", Kathryn asked concerned.  
"I'm afraid we're stuck," Tom replied. It took a moment until the extremely weak emergency light turned on. They could hardly see anything.  
"This comes at a particularly bad time," B'Elanna muttered.  
"What?"  
"The labor had started..."

"The labor had started?", Tom interrupted incredulously, "In this moment?"  
"No, actually an hour ago," B'Elanna was leaning against the wall with one hand, "But an hour ago, we were still busy elsewhere, so I couldn´t see the doctor."  
"Chakotay to bridge", the captain tapped on his communicator.  
"Bridge here."  
"Status?"  
"We were able to steer the ship into the mist, Captain. The repairs on the computer are still in full swing."  
"Fine. Don´t forget to check the turbolifts. Ours is stuck." He heard a faint, beeping noise. "All turbolifts work completely normal, sir," Ayala reported.  
"Fix it. We are waiting here. Chakotay over." They didn´t have another option than to wait.  
"There must be a malfunction of the computer", B'Elanna suspected and she was hit by a pressing pain, "I need to sit down", she tried to breathe deeply and Tom helped her to sit on the ground. Also Kathryn found it was a good idea. Now, in a moment where the adrenaline didn´t chase through her body, she felt tired and exhausted. She also felt a slight pain in her back, but the cause could be anything.  
Tom held B'Elannas hand as she crouched on the floor of the turbolift and leaned back against the wall.  
Kathryn and Chakotay were sitting close together near the front door to the elevator. Every minute, in which they had to wait became longer and longer. Almost every second minute Kathryn asked the computer for the board time, but then the distances grew larger until she finally gave up.  
"If we survive and get home, we´ll travel to Caro for a few weeks", Chakotay said quietly to Kathryn, who leaned her head against his shoulder, "On Carea we are constantly reminded of our obligations... And if I remember correctly, an invitation to the wedding of Senator of Sembra Prime has reached us." He wasn´t in the mood to travel to the Sembra- system in the case of their survival.  
"I'm sure you want to duck out of the event," Tom said, who had heard their conversation.  
"The general is usually an excellent dancer," interrupted Kathryn, patting Chakotays hand.  
"You think?"  
"I know. You have a very good sense of rhythm."  
"But I don´t like proms. The Senator of Sembra Prime is not known for her frugality and restraint..."  
"That's not the reason," B'Elanna said, "I know exactly what the problem is: It was embarrassing for you, that the Senator introduced you as queen and king of Carea during her engagement party. And you fear this will happen again..." B'Elanna had heard because Neelix, who had accompanied Kathryn and Chakotay to the ceremony, told her faithfully.  
"Thank you for reminding me," Chakotay snorted and Kathryn and B'Elanna laughed. But she was right: He was embarrassed he and Kathryn were introduced as queen and king to the population of Sembra Prime, because he never felt like a king.  
"Did you know I got stuck in a turbolift as a cadet once at the academy with the sister of Admiral Shelby?", Tom suddenly told , "Mara Shelby was heavily pregnant back then and minutes before the child was born, someone released us and the doctor could deliver the child in the sick bay. It was one of the worst moments of my life... "  
"Not a particularly encouraging story," B'Elanna answered and tried to sit up, but the baby's position made this difficult.  
"There was only one woman with whom it was worth to get stuck in a turbolift", Chakotay said. Kathryn's cheeks blushed at this moment, but he couldn´t see that in the darkness of the emergency lighting.  
"Sarah McMurray. She was the most beautiful woman on the Starfleet Academy."  
Inwardly Kathryn thanked for this devastating statement, but she was too tired to react with a snappy remark.  
A violent pain left B'Elannas laughter silenced. "Is everything okay?", Tom asked worriedly.  
"This is a contraction," she said, breathing hard, "Tom?"  
"Yes?"  
"I won´t deliver my baby in this turbolift."  
"I know," he held her hand firmly, "I know that."

"We are suffocating here," Kathryn muttered. She had lost track of time, she was trying to stay awake, but the fatigue was stronger.  
"We could shoot a hole in the ceiling of the lift", Tom suggested, "Probably this cases an alarm and perhaps we will finally be saved..."  
"The bridge knows where we are..." They couldn´t ask anyone for help because for some unknown reason, the communication system failed.  
"And why does no one help us?", Tom hesitated for a second, but then he asked them to protect their eyes and finally he reached for his phaser to fire a hole in the ceiling of the lift cabin. As he had predicted, a deafening alarm began and Kathryn was disappointed when the sound failed after a few repetitions.  
"I'm cold," Kathryn complained now and Chakotay raised his hand to her forehead. Although she said she was cold, she glowed at the same time. Her head on his shoulder became heavy.  
"How are you doing?", Tom asked B'Elanna .  
"I had better times", she currently was fine, but she felt the situation still very unpleasant. Inwardly B'Elanna tried to calm herself with the fact Kathryn already gave birth to two children, but she knew this was different. Kathryn's experience as a mother wouldn´t help her.  
"Is something wrong?", Chakotay asked his wife.  
"I´m fine."  
"You´re not. I know you, Kathryn."  
"I'm jealous," she said, suddenly very serious, "Furious jealous. Of this woman with whom you stuck in the elevator at the academy."  
"That's more than 25 years ago!", Chakotay was surprised this was the reason of her bad temper, "That was long before I met you!"  
Again, she didn´t respond, but then he heard her chuckling amused and he relaxed.  
A loud buzzing noise interrupted their conversation. "What was that?", Kathryn asked. A loud rumbling caught her attention and finally a ray of light fell on them.  
"Captain?", Neelix asked and pointed his flashlight on them.  
"Neelix? Neelix, we're down here!", Chakotay called to him.  
"We?"  
"The Queen is here. And Tom and B'Elanna also... "  
"Neelix", Tom now called, "Which deck are we?"  
"Deck five, Commander," answered the Talaxian.  
"Fine," Tom said this more to himself, but then he turned back to the origin of the beam, "Neelix, my wife has labor pains."  
"I now come to you!", the Talaxian cried who landed at the roof of the lift cabin. He held out his hands down to them.  
Tom helped his wife getting up. B'Elanna was the first who was rescued from the turbolift by Neelix. It took about two minutes before Neelix came back and while they waited, they could hear the other officers of the security team who worked on their rescue.  
Finally, Neelix could save the next person. "Go to your wife, Commander," Kathryn said to Tom.  
"But you're not feeling good..."  
"Go...", Kathryn nodded and watched as Neelix helped Tom leaving the turbolift. She felt how Chakotay helped her to grab Neelix' hands and finally the captain left the turbolift also. "We have to go all the way to the bridge," Chakotay said, taking his wife's hand, but he noticed that something was wrong.  
"Wait a second," she muttered. She felt terribly bad at this moment. And the ground beneath her feet began to turn. Kathryn almost fell, but Chakotay caught her before her body hit the ground.  
They hurried to get to the sick bay.

"Doc?", Tom and B'Elanna were the first to enter the sick bay, "Doctor, the baby is coming!" His voice was strained, but he nodded when the holographic doctor instructed him to take his wife to the operation area. When the doctor saw the Captain entered the sick bay and the queen was in his arms, he reacted very worried.  
"Put her on bio bed one", the doctor asked, immediately began to scan the weak woman and he asked the captain to leave them alone. The scan took a few seconds and Chakotay was worried when he entered the doctor's office. He could see they were talking to each other.  
Finally, the doctor came to him.  
"What´s wrong with her?"  
The doctor glanced at his tricorder. "She told you both would were poisoned," he reported and was trying to think about the motive the Borg queen probably had, but his patient was important. "I'm afraid her kidneys can´t neutralize the poison the Borg gave her," the doctor said, "I have to apply an outdated therapy, it´s called dialysis and I have to place the queen in a medically-induced coma... "  
"Will it help?", Chakotay interrupted.  
"I hope..." The voice of the doctor was quiet. "I must also take your blood for a test, Captain. But that has time", he could see the Captain seemed to be doing well, "The Queen wants to talk to you..."  
He thanked for pointing out and went back to the bio bed where Kathryn was. "Dearest," she murmured and Chakotay touched her cheek with his hand. "Don´t overexert yourself."  
"I'm sorry," she whimpered suddenly while she clung to the collar of his uniform jacket, "The Borg Queen has lured me into a trap. She showed me a memory that never happened. I fell for it..."  
"That's not your fault, Kathryn." He reached for her hand.  
"...She knew, therefore, you are the only one who knows the whereabouts of the children."  
On the other side of bio bed now the doctor appeared. "Captain, I have to start." He put a hypospray at Kathryn's neck and the woman fell asleep.  
It was hard for Chakotay to leave his wife alone at the sick bay. "Doctor, let me know immediately when the queen awakes."  
"Aye, Captain." The doctor began his work and Chakotay looked at Tom and B´Elanna worried, who resided in the operation area of the sick bay. His first officer came to him.  
"I have heard what the doctor said," Tom's voice was compassionate.  
"Yes," Chakotay nodded, "Stay here with your wife. I'm going to the bridge."  
"But…!"  
"That was an order, Commander." Chakotay left. He hadn´t missed the births of his children and he wouldn´t let happen that Tom wasn´t present at this event.

"Report", Chakotay asked Harry when he entered the bridge. It was still dark because the Red alarm was triggered. On the main screen he saw the pink mist in which they hid from the Borg. Chakotay hated the thought they retired as a mouse, which only came out of hiding when the cat was gone. But Voyager couldn´t compete with the Borg at the moment.  
"We progress with the repair work very well, Captain," Harry said, "Ensign Wildman takes care of the main computer. It will take about an hour until we are ready to fight again."  
"Fine. Tell Samantha, she should check the lifts when her schedule allows."  
"Aye."  
"Samantha is in charge at the engineering until B'Elanna is recovered."  
"Speaking: Where is Commander Paris?"  
"Don´t worry, Harry. He's at the sick bay. The baby is coming."  
Harry watched as the captain hastily walked to the lift. It was unpleasant to him to use the elevator, but the alternative was to crawl several decks through tubes.  
"Sir, where are you going?"  
Chakotay answered his question, but he ordered him to cancel red alert. Yellow alert was currently sufficient.

"Janey, how long do we have to wait here?", Aeria asked who sat with her sister and Janey and Cierra under the control console of a waited in the darkness for hours and now Aeria was terribly hungry and tired.  
"Janey, where are Mommy and Daddy?", Aeria wanted to know now. Cierra tried to calm the crying baby in her arms.  
Inwardly, Janey wondered how they should obey the command of the General and hide the princesses on separate planets when Aeria was able to remember her parents. Surely she would always have to face the question of what had happened to their parents in the following years. Of course, only in the event that the crew of Voyager would fail...  
"Princess, I don´t know where your parents are," she lied. A loud rumble caused that Aeria clung to Janey. The sound came from the other end of the shuttle.  
"What's that?", Cierra whispered who held the crying baby in her arms.  
"I do not know...", Janey swallowed and reached for the phaser the General had given her.  
The access door of the shuttle opened and at first they were blinded by a bright light. Then a large shadow appeared. Cierra and Janey saw the outline of a man.  
"Stand still!", the young woman cried , "Or I'll shoot!"  
"Janey?", Chakotay's eyes needed a moment to get used to the darkness.  
"General?"  
He confirmed and Aeria wanted to run to him, but Janey stopped her. "Wait, princess", then turned back to the shade, "How do I know you´re really the General?"  
Janey sent a flashlight on him.  
"Who else should it be?", Chakotay replied, "Just you and I know this hiding place."  
Relieved, Janey stuck her phaser in her bag and exhaled calmed, "Thank God."  
She noticed how Aeria rushed past her and ran to her father. Chakotay hugged his daughter and finally he lifted her on his arm.  
"We are safe from the Borg... At least for now," he informed her. They left the shuttle and Chakotay accompanied them to the quarter, which he and Kathryn inhabited. The absence of the queen made Janey uneasy. "General," she began, "Um, I mean... Captain. Excuse me."  
"I think it's fine if you call me General," Chakotay interrupted her while he held Aeria on his arm, she still clung to his neck.  
"Where is the Queen?", Cierra asked.  
"She's sick", Chakotay answered honestly, "She's at the sick bay. I have instructed the doctor to tell me as soon as she wakes up."  
Janey and Cierra exchanged a worried look. "Does this mean the queen is in a coma?"  
"For the moment, but the doctor says the prognosis is good." With Aeria on his arm, he went on. He was glad he didn´t have to tell them even the doctor had no idea about Kathryn's health.

It was late evening when the sick bay reported to the crew there was a new crew member for a few minutes. Regarding Kathryn, Chakotay had not heard from the doctor and he didn´t dare to ask. He didn´t know, why. Maybe he wanted to shirk an unpleasant message, an unpleasant feeling... He didn´t know.  
The main computer was working perfectly currently. Most crewmembers were ready to strike against the Borg to rescue Ensign Sanders. They knew now, after all, where he was staying. Maybe they succeeded to eliminate the Borg Queen. But was it worth it?  
Chakotay remembered a story that Kathryn once told him. She led him back then in the mausoleum of the Palace, where her mother Riehsa was buried. It was the place where all the crowned heads of Carea found their last resting. When they visited the mausoleum, Aeria was only a few days old and it was raining. In addition, Queen Riehsa died exactly twenty years ago to the day. Kathryn had been Queen since then and whenever she had time, she put flowers on the grave of her mother. "Don´t worry, we won´t stay long," Kathryn said to Chakotay when she entered the mausoleum and pulled a hood from her head, "...I have a newborn child. Mother would for sure understand." She put a bunch of flowers on the grave and Chakotay discovered a marble slab, which apparently represented a battle scene. He asked her about it.  
"That is the battle of Tarinar", she told, "Mother was fifteen years old back then. Through a ruse she killed the King of Tarinar. She had previously been abducted to marry him, but mother fled. Then the king started a war against Carea and it looked like he would win. Mother crept one night from the palace, took a spaceship and flew to Tarinar. She told the king, he would have won and she would marry him. Unfortunately I don´t remember exactly how, but mother managed to kill the king. And so she returned as the winner in this battle to Carea. My grandfather, King Aris was very proud of my mother and said, there is no better ruler the planet could ever have. Grandfather died five years later, my mother was pregnant with me. I never met my grandfather."  
"But he didn´t tell the truth," Chakotay said and noticed from the corner of his eye how Kathryn looked at him confused, "He couldn´t have guessed one day you would be a better queen than Queen Riehsa. You have proven in the fight against the Preem that you are a leader of your people."  
He saw her smile and Kathryn took his hand. "Let´s go back in the palace," Kathryn finally suggested, "Aeria waits for us."  
Maybe they had also use Queen Riehsas ruse, if they wanted to win this fight today.  
Chakotay sighed then focused on his work. The ship was suddenly hit by a quake. "Captain to the bridge!", Harry shouted and Chakotay immediately got up.  
"What happened, Ensign?", Chakotay asked, as he stepped through the door.  
"The Borg fire on us!"  
"Can they see us?"  
"Unlikely. We are invisible to their sensors, as long as we are in this fog."  
Chakotay saw through their plan immediately.  
Meanwhile, Harry's brow furrowed. "Sir, I believe the Borg don´t fire on us."  
"To whom then?"  
Harry had discovered a ship which fled from the Borg and now also sought shelter in the pink mist. The bridge crew stopped breathing for a moment because the foreign ship looked like Voyager.  
"Call them," Chakotay ordered.  
"They don´t answer."  
"Then keep on trying!"  
"Sick bay at Bridge!", the Doctor announced suddenly, "Captain, the Queen is awake."  
"Not now, Doctor!"  
"But you said...!"  
"I know what I said, Doctor! I come to you as soon as I can!"  
They watched on the main screen, how a cube in the distance filed past them and fired torpedoes into the mist. "Did they hit us?"  
"There is a little damage on deck twelve," Ayala said.  
"What about the other ship, Harry?"  
"I can´t see it on the sensors. Should I keep trying to call the ship?" The ensign saw how Chakotay was planing their next move.  
"Yes, keep trying. We stay here", Chakotay finally decided, "We won´t leave the fog."  
"Engineering to the bridge," said Samantha Wildman.  
"Speak, Ensign."  
"We have completed the analysis of the Borg data nodes. The download is complete."  
"Transfer the data in my ready room."

Chakotay read the Download only briefly. When he tried to make his way to the sick bay, he was stopped by Tom who had taken up his duties on the bridge again. It was hard for him to leave his wife and child in their quarters, but he was needed here.  
"Captain, the second Voyager is calling for us," reported Tom and Chakotay stopped on the way to the turbolift. "On screen."  
Ayala nodded and immediately the image of Captain Janeway appeared on the main screen. Her hair was a little darker than the Queen´s and she was wearing a Starfleet uniform. "My name is Captain Kathryn Janeway, federation starship Voyager..."  
"Captain, I know very well who you are!", Chakotay interrupted her, "Please don´t think I´m rude, but we are quite surprised to meet our almost- likenesses out here."  
He saw how she turned to her first officer.  
"I am Captain Chakotay, also Voyager. Tell me what you are? Are you a shapeshifter?"  
Janeway didn´t answer to his question, "It's Stardate 53896, Captain."  
"That's correct, sir," Harry intervened in their conversation.  
"Captain Janeway, I suggest we clarify later with witch phenomenon we have to deal," Chakotay told her, "Is your ship damaged?"  
"We get along. What about you?"  
"We have recently fixed problems with the computer. The Borg have shut down the computer completely, while keeping us imprisoned", he noted he had to explain some things, "We tried to save one of our crew members."  
"The Borg shut down your entire computer?" They heard how Tom Paris asked who was on the second Voyager, "Then, your ship must be in pretty bad shape..."  
"Although the ship is spending much time on Carea I assure you, Mister Paris, Voyager is in great shape..."  
"Carea?", as Captain Janeway repeated the name of the planet, Chakotay noticed he had to tell her that at least his crew had found a new home in the Delta Quadrant. "Captain, I suggest, you visit us at our ship. We can then talk about your battle against the Borg."

Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay agreed to visit them, but before he picked them up in the transporter room, Chakotay went to the sick bay. There, he was expected by a very surprised doctor. "I'm sorry, I couldn´t stop the Queen," the doctor said with a dismal view, "The stubbornness of the Queen sometimes drives me crazy." The doctor noticed what he had said: "Excuse me, Captain. I am aware we are talking about your wife..."  
"Where is she now?"  
"I don´t know. I'm a doctor, and not a maid."  
Chakotay left the sick bay. There was no time to ask the computer of the whereabouts of his wife, so he went to the transporter room. Three figures appeared just on the transporter surface when he entered. "Good day. Captain, Commander, may I welcome you aboard Voyager", he said, noting that both looked very similar to himself and Kathryn but they weren´t exact copies. Although he and Commander Chakotay had to be the same age, he was in better shape. And Captain Janeway looked much more stressed out than his wife.  
"Captain, thank you for your invitation", Janeway said, "This is my first officer Commander Chakotay and that is Lieutenant Tuvok."  
"You're a Vulcan," Chakotay said and when he saw the confused look of the other captain, he added, "I'm sorry, in our crew we don´t have any Vulcan."  
"Well, we differ on this point, Captain," Captain Janeway remarked.  
Chakotay brought them out of the transporter room and he foresaw she would like to know what had happened to her look alike. "You don´t have to worry: You are fine on this ship," he told her as he led his guests to a turbolift. They were on their way to the bridge, but first they stopped their tour on Deck Three.  
"What?"  
"I know you'd like to know why I am the Captain of this ship." He couldn´t help noticing how Captain Janeway and her Commander exchanged a puzzled look. "Captain Janeway and I crashed with a shuttle on a planet called Carea. The captain lost her memory and couldn´t remember Voyager. It turned out the inhabitants of the planet Carea thought the Captain was their queen... ", he remembered the oil painting of her which hung at the Royal Palace, " ...and apparently she really was the queen. Believe me. I still wonder how this is actually possible... Since then the captain has only recovered the identity of the captain once. We were fighting against the Preem who launched an invasion on Carea. We defeated the Preem and after a few days the identity of the captain was gone."  
Of course, Commander Chakotay had noticed a badge on the collar of his uniform, and he had never seen anything like it, so he asked him about it. "This is the rank insignia of a general. The carean military gave me this after I killed the Preem- king in battle." He hoped his question was answered thus.  
On deck three they left the turbolift and entered the room, where a children's ward was set up. Chakotay saw that Captain Janeway was holding her breath for a second, when she saw her likeness was sitting at a table and played with a little girl. She had to admit her likeness seemed like a luminous figure- although they were about the same age. Her long red hair was tied in a ponytail and she was wearing an impractical long black dress. In addition, a red-haired baby slept in her arms. Once again the Captain stopped breath because the resemblance between mother and child was hard to deny.  
"Daddy!" The girl had apparently noticed him and rushed to him now. Chakotay lifted the child on his arm. "Captain, Commander. This is Aeria."  
"Hello," the princess said shyly.  
Kathryn came to them. She had already heard from some crewmembers they had contact with a ship that resembled Voyager. But she hadn´t expected meeting their counterparts. "Good day," Kathryn said to the Captain and the Commander, "We're pretty similar. You look like me." But the hair of the Captain was shorter. And she looked stressed.  
"We are pleased to meet you", Commander Chakotay confirmed.  
"Captain Chakotay said, you are the queen of a planet called Carea. Voyager there spends a lot of time...", Janeway began.  
"Carea is our home world," Kathryn confirmed, "A few years ago we have decided to stay there, so..." The red-haired baby in her arms began to cry softly. "Excuse me. It's time for the baby´s nap", Kathryn said and immediately a young woman appeared beside her.  
"Your Majesty, I can take care of Princess Riehsa," Janey offered.  
"No, it´s my job." With the baby in her arms Kathryn walked past them, but before she left the room, was turned to her visit, "Captain Janeway, I would be very happy if I can tell you the complete story on occasion. "  
"Janey, could you accompany the queen and take care of Princess Aeria", Chakotay suggested and now turned to the little girl on his arm, "You're tired, aren´t you?" He put her on the floor.  
"Yes, General. I'll handle this", the young woman confirmed.  
"Princess?", Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay asked simultaneously. Kathryn Janeway felt how her face blushed when she realized the meaning of these words. Still a little disbelief, she watched how the queen grabbed the hand of her daughter and they left.

Their visit left the ship a few hours later but they had agreed to meet for a briefing the next day. For the crews of both Voyagers it was clear they had to fight against the Borg together.  
Kathryn was alone in the ready room and while she waited she looked at a photo of herself and her husband, which was taken at her first marriage- try. She noticed they both looked incredibly happy in the picture. Next to it stood a framed family photo, which was taken just before they introduced Riehsa to the carean people. His family has always been very important to him and Kathryn now understood why he wanted her and the princesses away from the battlefield. She felt guilt, as she thought she was almost dead. Chakotay would never come over this and Aeria was also too young to be queen already. She also saw the arrow, her husband had stored: He normally wasn´t a warrior who used bow and arrow but once it was necessary. When he and Kathryn where a couple since one month, they visited the king of Xentia, who wanted to marry her. He challenged Chakotay to a duel. One of he challenges was archery und Chakotay feared he wouldn´t win. Kathryn promised him a kiss when he´d win and he hit the mark.  
The doors to the ready room opened with a hiss and Chakotay entered. "I see you're doing better," he said and smiled.  
"Not quite yet. I still have pain", he put to the picture frame back to the desk, walked towards him and when she finally stood facing each other, they twined their arms around each other, "But if I rest now, I feel guilty." Kathryn decided she´d have enough time to rest when this fight was over. "The doctor has forbidden me also to feed the baby with breast milk. I could poison Riehsa by mistake."  
"That means the poison is not neutralized?", he sounded worried, as he led her to the couch to sit down with him. He found his wife looked healthy, but it could also be her red hair which was a perfect contrast to the black dress.  
"The doctor plays safe. He says I am healthy, but I'm still pretty exhausted..." She felt the fatigue almost every minute.  
"I won´t blame you, but why didn´t you wait for me at the sick bay?"  
"Sorry. I could not wait to see the children."  
"Do you want something to drink? You could need something..." He went to the replicator and although she refused, he ordered for each of them a cup of tea.  
"On the way here I heard some crewmembers talking. Is there a new plan to rescue Ensign Sanders?", Kathryn asked concerned. On the way to the bridge she met Ensign Hickman and told her how sorry she felt that her husband was assimilated and the young woman thanked her for her sympathy.  
"There is a new plan," Chakotay confirmed, "I remembered the story of the Battle of Tarinar and Queen Riehsa ruse to end the war."  
"Mother was a modern Trojan horse."  
Chakotay was surprised at this comment, because apparently she had read something about earth- history at the database of the Voyager.  
"I have to show you something," he then said to her, as he again sat down beside her and reached her the PADD, which was already on the small glass table, "If the here stored data are correct... Then Aeria will make it to destroy a large part of the Borg collective in 20 years."  
Kathryn didn´t understand. "But that would mean..."  
"This information comes from the future," he added, taking a sip of tea, "The Borg Queen has undertaken a journey through time to prevent the destruction of collective. That's why she wants our children. She wants to kill them to prevent Aeria harms the collective in 20 years. "  
"What did the Borg Queen do?", Kathryn asked, but she didn´t really want an answer, "She has taken a journey through time, while she combines parallel worlds... She has done quite a mess."  
"Seems as if we were serious opponents even in 20 years."  
Kathryn had to think about these words. "Is this all information?", she finally asked.  
"Yes," he nodded, "That's all. We won´t know what will be exactly in 20 years, if you wanted to know this..."  
"This is a pity…."  
"Yes, it is," he agreed, his voice told Kathryn that something bothered him.  
"What's wrong with you?", she asked, "I can see something is wrong."  
"I...", Chakotay thought for a second, "Through this information node, we know we won´t be able to defeat the Borg. Your mother's ruse won´t work. I have a feeling that this time I failed", he corrected himself: "Will fail."  
"You won´t…"  
"I have a task for my daughter, which was supposed to be mine."  
Kathryn reached for his hand and squeezed it tightly, but the uncertainty of whether they would survive this mission, now gnawed at her. She decided not to show: "And so it's my job. But our failure in fighting against the Borg doesn´t mean I'm a bad mother just because my daughter will fight against the Borg in the future, too... That doesn´t make us bad parents. You're a very good father."  
"Thank you." He squeezed her hand, "I knew marrying you was one of the best decisions of my life." They looked at each other and Chakotay leaned towards her. "May I kiss you? Or does the doctor think you could poison me as well?"  
"I think that's fine," she smiled.  
They were interrupted by the door buzzer. "Come in," Chakotay confirmed. They saw how Tom entered the ready room and looked a little perplexed. "Captain, I'm sorry to bother you but I think you want to see this..."

To be continued…


	7. The dark menace Part IV

Title: The dark menace Part IV  
Author: Dancing Star  
Pairing: Janeway / Chakotay  
Spoiler: Faded I-III  
Rating: 12  
Category: AU, Romance, SciFi  
What happens: The fight against the Borg begins.  
Notes: I hope you can keep up who is who :-) AND hopefully I don´t sound like Master Yoda.

 **The dark menace Part IV**

"What happened, Commander?", Chakotay asked. He and Kathryn exchanged a worried look before they got up from the couch in the ready room. Both followed Tom to the bridge and saw how the rest of the senior officers watched the screen fascinated.  
"The long-range scans show the Borg have provoked an anomaly in two light-years away," Harry said.  
"An anomaly?"  
"So, it's...", Harry looked slightly desperate, "To be honest, I don´t know what it is."  
They looked at the main screen and saw how a Borg cube fired an energy beam in a small anomaly.  
"What are they up to?", Kathryn asked.  
At this moment, Captain Janeway of the second Voyager interrupted her: "Captain, you have surely noticed the Borg have provoked an anomaly."  
"We have, Captain. Apparently the Borg focus on the anomaly. Maybe we should take advantage of this and leave the sector. "  
"Negative," Janeway said by the Com, "We should keep the Borg in the eye." It bothered her they didn´t know what the Borg had in mind.

They met for dinner on the first Voyager. Kathryn was tense when she waited for the visit. With Riehsa on her arm she walked around nervously in her quarters. What would the captain think of her when they got to know closer? Kathryn had read the logbook, which Kathryn Janeway wrote before her memory loss. In this reality, the memory loss had never taken place. She hoped Janeway wouldn´t judge too hard on her, although she could imagine she was appalled, because this crew hadn´t continued their journey to the Alpha Quadrant to stay on Carea.  
The door buzzer forced Kathryn to quit her nervous movements to answer the door. "Good evening," she said to Captain Janeway.  
"Good evening." She was carrying a pack of pink gift paper under her arm. "That's for Princess Aeria."  
"Thank you," Kathryn smiled when Aeria accepted the gift and unwrapped it. It was as pink plush horse with purple mane. "How did you know this is Aerias favorite color?", Kathryn asked.  
"Your husband told me." Even the hint Aeria liked horses and cats, and that there were no dogs on Carea, proved to be extremely helpful. Apparently the princess liked her new toy so much that she had already given it a name.  
The baby on Kathryn's arm started crying. Fortunately Janey entered the room at this moment. "Your Majesty, I take care of Princess Riehsa", Janey said, taking the baby on her arm and reached out to Aeria, "Come on, princess."  
Kathryn thanked for the help.  
"Neelix asked me to tell you, it's almost dinner time, Majesty," Janey also said. While they had to wait, Captain Janeway looked at the quarter of the Queen exactly. She was curious and tried not to stare at the framed wedding photo, which stood on a dresser. "You chose Hawaii as location for your wedding?", Janeway asked. She hoped it was okay if she took the picture frame in her hands. This photo said much about the Queen and her husband: When Chakotay looked at the queen, so much love was in his eyes. And in reality, it was no different.  
"Yes, that was our first attempt. We were disturbed by the Borg", Kathryn told, "We got married in the engineering."  
The door to her quarters opened and the two Chakotays stepped inside. Kathryn was amazed at how similar they looked, but she had no problem to keep them apart.  
"... .And you have caught the queen", Commander Chakotay said to Captain Chakotay and Kathryn wondered what they had just discussed. They got along with each other.  
"Janey says Neelix is almost ready," Kathryn told her husband and smiled, "We'd better get on the way to the mess hall before we're late." She linked arms with him.  
"Yes, my queen."  
The two seemed didn´t seem to be very happy not only on images, but also had a loving relationship, Janeway thought. It gave her a pang to see them like this.  
"Bridge to Captain Chakotay," Harry reported, his voice sounding alarmed.  
"Talk," Chakotay tapped his communicator.  
"Captain, the anomaly is now quite large. A spaceship has just passed."  
"A spaceship?", Kathryn's brow wrinkles because she recognized in Harry's voice, it'd was better to be interested.  
"It is the Voyager."

They were excited when Harry sent them directly to transporter room one. Chakotay and Kathryn waited for the commander of the third Voyager who apparently insisted to meet them alone. First they sent out the guard and said goodbye to the Captain and Commander of the second Voyager.  
The third Voyager was obviously the strongest ship, because it didn´t need support to destroy the two small Borg ships which had produced the anomaly. Chakotay wondered if he should worry. He also found it strange the third Voyager was heading immediately on the pink fog in which they still hid after the destruction of the Borg vessels.  
Also Kathryn held her breath when a person was beamed to them. "Good day", a young woman with long, black hair said. She wore a black, carean battledress.  
"Good day," Kathryn replied, "I am the Queen of Carea. This is General... "  
"General Chakotay. I know you."  
Kathryn and Chakotay exchanged a puzzled look. "Who are you?"  
"Do you recognize me?", the young woman asked , "I am Aeria. "  
She turned to her father. "My mother warned me you wouldn´t believe me," she said, rummaging in the side pocket of her combat suit, "Mother asked me to give this to you." She handed him a wooden pendant, which hung on a narrow leather belt and represented a strange shape.  
"What's that?", Kathryn asked and watched Chakotay.  
"That's...", he shook his head, "...Nothing." It was his gift for Kathryn to their next wedding anniversary and he worked secretly on the pendant.  
"She is Aeria", he confirmed, "That's our daughter."  
The woman was definitely the older version of the Crown Princess. Kathryn guessed she must be about twenty years old. The princess from the future was taller than Kathryn and her hair was long and black. Her tanned skin and her brown eyes, she definitely had this from her father, beamed in strength and courage. But her mother gave her the fine features.  
Apparently the young woman had read Kathryns thoughts, because she looked at her, her face was gentle. "Riehsa looks like you", Aeria told cheerfully, "You've always been a little sad about the fact I have fathers hair color, but Riehsa has kept her red hair." Aeria thought of her younger sister, who looked quite exotic thanks to her tanned skin and the long red hair.  
"Where is Riehsa now? Why isn´t she here?" For a moment, Kathryn was troubled.  
"She represents the carean Royal Family in an important occasion. The daughter of Senator of Sembra Prime gets married."  
"Well, I hate those mandatory dates," Chakotay was relieved that one of his daughters would take care of this task in the future, and he no longer had to grapple with it.  
"Yes, I know", Aeria smiled.  
"Why are you here, Princess?", Chakotay suddenly asked serious.  
"I have a message for you," the adult Aeria said, "There is a plan against the Borg, prepared by my father and my uncle once. Although my father was against this journey, we decided to use the opportunity to tell you. Father didn´t need this plan but he never completely rejected it..."  
"We´d like to hear the plan", Kathryn decided.

"It's nice to see you all again at this time", Princess Aeria said to them, when the senior officers had gathered in the conference room for this late meeting, "I came from the future to bring you a message. My father and my Uncle Tom Paris remembered the Borg would try to destroy the spatial and temporal structure: The Borg Queen´s goal was to kill me and my younger sister Princess Riehsa so the future never comes, a future in which we destroyed the Borg. Nobody could have guessed the Borg Queen confuses the spatial and time structure so the Voyager crews of the present, the future and from a parallel universe would meet. "  
Tom interrupted the princess: He turned to Harry and said it was reassuring they would live in a world without Borg in the future.  
Aeria ignored the interruption. "...As I said, my father didn´t agree a time travel, but we have decided it´s important to help you. I bring you a fully elaborated plan to destroy the Borg."  
"I have a question," Chakotay raised his hand. He and Kathryn sat at the other end of the long conference table. "Why should we need your plan if we´ll manage to beat the Borg?"  
Aeria's mouth twitched. "My mother warned me you'd say that," she sighed, "I don´t want to lie: My parents once had to deal with a second Voyager, too. Unfortunately... Unfortunately, the second Voyager didn´t survive the battle. Mother and father always felt a little guilty about it... I think you understand we want to prevent this calamity."  
Kathryn and Chakotay looked at each other. "Time to take a closer look to the plan," she agreed  
Aeria reached into the pocket of her carean battle suit and pulled out a small flat device.  
"This is a holographic communicator. We got it from the Thalin in exchange for food- repilcation- technology", Aeria told then turned again to Chakotay,"I know this offends against some Starfleet protocols. When you found out we shared our technology with the Thalin, you didn´t talk to me for one week." Aeria now turned to the projection of a Borg vessel. "My father and my uncle's plan were to put a virus into the Borg collective. Father always said, Queen Riehsa inspired him more or less to this... We attack a cube, smuggle a team in the ship, which infects the collective with a virus..."  
"What type of virus is that?", B'Elanna asked.  
"Oh, don´t worry. I have a plan of the Nano- virus. The doctor and the nurse can quickly produce it. "  
"Nurse?", Tom and B'Elanna exchanged a puzzled look.  
"I see...", Aeria muttered, "I suppose it will take a while until the doctor requests a two-headed, holographic nurse." As Aeria said this, Tom breathed noisily and Chakotay hinted he better shouldn´t comment.  
"I also have a question," Harry added, "Why should we bother to destroy the Borg now? Regardless of there will be many victims, we'll make it anyway. "  
"The future is in constant change, Ensign Kim," Aeria looked at him, "Even if I stand here today and I and my parents have managed to destroy the Borg collective, this doesn´t mean you can rest easy now. As I said: The future is in constant change."  
"I'll talk to the second Voyager´s Captain", Kathryn sighed.  
"Excellent. If we attack a Borg cube with three ships, it will be easier for us to keep them in check. We also need the support of carean fleet. Majesty, how many ships do you currently have available?"  
"2,500 carean starfighter can be here within a few hours."  
"Great... We boarded a small Borg ship and brought it into the shuttle bay of Voyager. Someone has to fly it. The ship will act like a Trojan horse and bring a team to the cube, which infects the collective with a virus... "  
"I'm curious to see who will sign up for this suicide mission...", Kathryn whispered, leaning against Chakotay.  
"General Chakotay?", the adult Aeria suddenly asked, "My father pointed out to me you don´t want miss to defy the Borg Queen."  
"I...", He noticed how Kathryn looked at him in astonishment, "I need an away team ..."  
"General?", Kathryn put her hand on his forearm, "I'm ready."  
"And I´m also," Tom agreed, "You need a good pilot."  
"And an engineer. I also come with you", B'Elanna who ignored her husband's glance said.  
"Perfect", the adult Aeria turned to the doctor, who had joined their meeting via monitor, "Doctor, I'm with you in half an hour. We´ll talk about the virus. Tom, please go to my Voyager. Ensign Paris will familiarize you with the stolen Borg ship."  
"At your command, Princess," Tom got up. He was eager to meet the future version of his daughter. The meeting ended and Chakotay watched as Aeria talked to Neelix. Kathryn and Chakotay remained seated in their chairs. He leaned towards her.  
"Seems like we have some problems with our daughter in the future", Chakotay whispered and thought of Aeria's narrative he shouldn´t have talked to her for one week. He knew Aeria in his time was a little girl but he couldn´t help: He now saw her form a different angle.  
"Well, she is the crown princess of Carea" Kathryn said, "She does what she has to do."

The captain of the second Voyager had agreed to assist them in their plan. The three crews worked side by his so their mission was successful: The three doctors produced the virus while Tom had to learn to control the boarded Borg ship.  
The crew three days spent together then it was time to strike against the Borg.  
"I have to go unfortunately", Aeria sounded sad when she and her mother said goodbye at the transporter room, "I know how much you want to know something about your future..."  
"Yes that's true. I'm currently worried...", Kathryn nodded.  
"One day you will find out who or what the Queen of Carea really is. Telling you more would harm the supreme temporal directive but... I guess we keep this secret for us", Aeria smiled, "When I was nine years old I heard a conversation between my parents. They had figured out what the Queen of Carea really was: It turned out she was some kind of identity which has always slept in the body of Kathryn Janeway. And although both shared a body, they were two different people. I still remember my mother had asked my father if they´d also be a couple when the identity of the queen wouldn´t accidentally awakened in the body of Kathryn Janeway. Father said at the time, both of them would already know the answer..."  
"Oh," Kathryn sounded disappointed, "Then we split?"  
Aerias expression became suddenly very gentle. "No, quite the opposite. There´s no couple which shares more confidence and affection."  
Kathryn now looked very relieved. She had always believed Chakotay only stayed with her because she stuck randomly in this body. This always caused a strange aftertaste when she remembered their encounter on Carea. She tried not to think about it, but then Aeria happened. Kathryn believed he had stayed with her because he wanted to be a father for his child. It took her twenty year old daughter who confirmed they were lived happily together since a long time. And when he told her he loved her, he really meant it. This realization made Kathryn incredibly happy.  
Aeria saw in the corner of her eye how Chakotay now came to them. "Good luck", Aeria said, looking in their faces, "Mother, Father, it was very nice to meet you at this time."  
First she hugged her mother and then her father. Then she went to the transporter platform and was beamed back to their ship.

Thanks to the help of Princess Aeria they also had some weapons, which they needed to fight. Aeria gave them a gun, which automatically increased its shield modulation. Kathryn sighed when she was in the engineering and as many other crewmembers she prepared her weapon. She pushed an energy core in the gun. Her husband didn´t like this exchange of technologies and Captain Janeway was determined not pleased as well.  
Kathryn was worried. The adult princess Aeria had indeed spoken of both parents in her true future, but the princess also said the future was constantly changing.  
"I know what you're thinking," Chakotay said, who joined her and also prepared his gun.  
"I can´t imagine," Kathryn smiled. She had swapped the black dress against her leather battledress and she arranged her long hair in a braid, which resembled a cord.  
"You think I'm mad because I let me recruit for this mission from Aeria. But I have to do this: The Borg Queen wanted to extinguish my family. And I will rather die before something happens to my daughters. Or you."  
"You're right," Kathryn interrupted him and put her gun on the table in front of her, "I don´t agree that you're going on this mission."  
"Is this the reason why you want to accompany me?", he interrupted.  
Kathryn raised her hand in warning, "Don´t try to talk me out. Just promise me one thing."  
"Whatever you want."  
"Promise me we´ll survive. I can´t live without you…."  
Chakotay didn´t let her continue speaking and took a step in her direction. Kathryn finally threw her arms around him and kissed him. They didn´t know Captain Janeway watched them while she pushed an energy cell in a phaser rifle. Commander Paris noticed her surprised look. "What did you think?", he asked her, "They have two children. And they don´t have them by holding hands." Janeway shook her head at his remark and finally turned away.  
"Take care of yourself," Kathryn said to her husband.  
"You also."  
"Bridge to the Queen," Harry pointed out, "Your Majesty, the carean fleet is here."

Formularbeginn

Commander Paris and B'Elanna didn´t like that Captain Janeway had made it to persuade Captain Chakotay in a long discussion, to pick the Tom Paris from her crew for this mission. Fortunately, both men had received a briefing by Miral Paris on the boarded Borg ship.  
"Do you think Tom can handle our Voyager?", Kathryn asked, while she checked the sensors.  
"Of course," Chakotay looked at her, "He proved before." He reminded her of the attack of Preem. "If we would take him with us, we have to separate Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay at least temporarily. And the two are like us: They work better as a team. "  
"If you say so," she remarked and when Chakotay noticed the sarcasm in her voice, he turned to her. Kathryn winked.  
"Majesty. General. May I have your attention", Tom Paris said to them, "We are approaching a cube." Tom thought it was odd calling them like this.  
They focused on their work. "What is the status of Voyager?", Kathryn asked. The chair on which she sat was extremely uncomfortable. The place which was the command center of the Borg vessel had been converted especially for them according Miral Paris' presumption. Nevertheless, the ship didn´t look inviting and it still caused a shiver. Kathryn suspected it wasn´t unlikely, but Aeria assured them it was safe.  
"Princess Aerias Voyager has just launched an attack," B'Elanna informed her, "Your Voyager follows... Our forms the rear."  
"Right. Now send the emergency call", Chakotay ordered. The fake emergency call, the little ship sent would help them to get on board of the Borg ship.  
"Emergency call sent", Tom confirmed.  
"Fly unobtrusively."  
"And how does that work?", Tom turned around helplessly.  
"I don´t know. You are the pilot."  
A noise on the console excited Toms attention, "The Borg respond to our emergency call. They want to know what exactly happened... I think."  
"Tell them we were hit by an ion storm and were severely damaged."  
Tom nodded and watched curious how on the Borg cube opened a kind of shuttle ramp and they were recouped with a tractor beam. Kathryn felt uneasy at this moment. She hoped they would just manage to escape from the ship as easily, as they had entered.  
She held her breath when the little Borg ship was hit by a slight tremor. The cube was almost hollow from the inside, but they could see it harbored little spaceships.  
"We have just docked", B'Elanna informed them, "Now go."  
They got up and put out with the samples of the virus, which were produced by the doctors. The virus was stored in small boxes hanging from belts. "We have to hurry," B'Elanna said when she and Tom went to the front door of the ship. Their plan was that the Borg would find this ship empty. The hatch opened with a hiss and Tom and B'Elanna stepped out, armed with rifles.  
"I'm afraid," Kathryn told Chakotay before they´d leave the Borg ship.  
"Me too," he said, hoping to calm her, but he realized too late this might wasn´t calming. They followed Tom and B'Elanna. The half-Klingon had memorized the way to the central node of the cube exactly in the last few days. When the virus was placed there, it would spread quickly throughout the collective.  
Behind them a plasma conduit blew sparks. Apparently one of the Voyagers had hit the cube. An Alam rang. But something was wrong.  
"Wait a second," Kathryn reminded while they walked to the central energy complex, "Where are the Borg?" She had noticed they hadn´t met one single drone so far.  
"Maybe...", B'Elanna was about to answer, but she was interrupted by a loud, pounding noise. The ground beneath their feet trembled. There was still another pounding. Then another one.  
Tom told them with a gesture to hide. Kathryn and Chakotay hid a console while Tom and B'Elanna crouched behind a box-like device on the other side of the room. The heavy pounding footsteps came closer.  
"What's that?", Kathryn asked and Chakotay hinted to be quiet, he held her in his arms while they crouched behind the console. He wondered what the Borg was. He had never heard there was such a massive drone. He tried to stretch his neck so he could see something while the heavy steps walked past them. Meanwhile he felt how Kathryn's fingernails dug into the fabric of his uniform.  
Chakotay saw a machine which was so massive it seemed almost invincible. The machine was also heavily armed and Chakotay could see it was controlled by a Borg. "Damn, what's that?", he muttered, thinking he shouldn´t have done this, because suddenly the machine stopped and went with hasty but no less serious steps to the console behind which he and Kathryn crouched.  
Kathryn held her breath, when a spotlight glided over them. Her heart beat faster in fear. She was hot and cold at the same time.  
Finally, the machine turned off and stomped down the corridor. Dry dust rained down on Kathryn and Chakotay and none of them dared to move. Finally, Tom and B'Elanna tore them from their stupor. "We have to continue," Tom firmly said. "Was that a Borg?", Kathryn asked. Her voice trembled.  
"Looks like a kind of super-drone", B'Elanna suspected and helped Kathryn to get up, "One more reason we inject the virus quickly into the collective."

They reached the central energy complex and there was still no drone to see. "I have a sense of foreboding, where they all are," Chakotay muttered when he freed himself from the belt with the virus samples.  
"Do you want to tell us?", Tom asked, who also took off his belt. The cube was hit by a shock and they stumbled, but they scrambled up.  
"I suspect all of them are transformed into super drones."  
"God forbid," B'Elanna muttered, but she decided to focus on their task. Each of them had placed in front of a box-shaped column.  
"All right, listen to me!", B'Elanna asked her teammates, "Each of you sees a terminal. If I tell you, you must enter a decryption code..."  
Kathryn didn´t understand what she said, because there were only arrays of different sizes, green circles on the terminal, which were now and then connected by lines.  
B'Elanna placed her tricorder at her terminal. The device should decrypt the safety key. It took about ten seconds. "All right, I got it!", she said and Tom was surprised it hadn´t taken more time.  
"Enter the following code," the half Klingon called them an array of circles and finally they should touch a formation of three bright green circles.  
"I have three of them," Kathryn answered, "Which one should I take?"  
"The right one!"  
"I also have three possible formations" Chakotay confirmed.  
"I also!", Tom yelled. He turned his head and could see the beads of sweat on Torres' forehead even at this distance. She also had to have three options. "And now?"  
The Klingon took a deep breath. "I suppose the formation of three circles in the lower left corner." Her forefinger tapped the icon. A high-pitched noise that came from Toms Terminal, told her he had done the same.  
"I take the same," Kathryn confirmed.  
"Yes," Chakotay replied.  
The terminals before them blinked and finally the sheathing of terminals drove upwards hissing. They now had access to the central power core. Kathryn and Chakotay were captured by the green light for a moment. "Focus", B'Elanna called.  
Each of them took some Hypo- sprays with the virus samples and each gave the power line an injection. "When will we see if it works?", Kathryn asked.  
"Find out," a soft, feminine voice called to her and in that moment, a massive door opened. They saw the Borg Queen, who was accompanied by two super drones.  
"I knew we'd meet here. Finally I will add to our collective, Queen", she said," Resistance is futile."  
At that moment a volley struck on her head. "Do you think you can threaten my mother?!", Aeria exclaimed angrily. She also entered the room and still fired with the heavy rifle at the energy cell. Sparks rained down on her and burned black spots in her thin, pale skin.  
"Mother, father. Follow me", Aeria urged them. And this call came in time, because the super drones loaded their weapons. "Aeria, what are you doing here?", Chakotay asked, but he received no response from her. Instead, the super drones started shooting at them. Kathryn and Chakotay, their away team, Princess Aeria and their team could take cover in time.  
"I thought you could need help!", Aeria had to shout through the noise. Then she tapped on her communicator. "Princess Aeria to Voyager!", she exclaimed, "What about the shields of the cube?"  
"Not yet, princess," a voice answered and Kathryn thought she recognized Harry Kim, "The virus apparently is not effective."  
"Damn!", Chakotay cursed. They needed a backup plan, because long their hiding place wouldn´t withstand the bursts of super drones for long.  
"I have an idea!", B'Elanna crawled on her belly to a console and tapped her index finger on it.  
The two away teams dissolved into air and Kathryn thought she had heard a very angry outcry from the Borg Queen.

The away team materialized in the stolen Borg ship and with Aeria's help B'Elanna succeeded to solve the docking clamps. They steered the ship toward the open hatch.  
"They follow us," Chakotay said firmly when they were hit by a shot. Their Borg ship swayed to the left and he tried to catch Kathryn. Her cord- similar plait hit his face like a whip.  
"I know! I know!", Tom cried stressed out.  
"Fly faster!"  
"What do you think am I doing here?!"  
Kathryn watched the Borg at the screen and held her breath: Apparently the super drones weren´t only armed to the teeth, they could also fly. Their stolen Borg ship left the cube.

In space, a battle between the Borg and the three Voyagers was in progress. The Voyagers were accompanied by 2,500 carean starfighters. A group of fighters opened fire on the super drones.  
"Something is wrong with the ship," Tom suddenly announced, "For some reason, my control is blocked!"  
"Mine as well", Aeria agreed and tapped her communicator, "Voyager, beam us out!"  
"Aye, Princess," it was the voice of Commander Paris and they were glad he was more cooperative, than the Harry Kim on Aerias ship. "We need to lower the shields for a moment", Commander Paris said, "It is necessary to protect the ship."  
"Agreed," Captain Janeway confirmed, "Begin, Commander Paris."  
Everything happened very quickly, but Kathryn and Chakotay were relieved when they found themselves seconds later on the transporter deck of their ship. Relieved, they fell into each other's arms and then Kathryn hugged her adult daughter. "Let's go to the bridge," Tom suggested and they hastened. On the way to the lift they have been shaken.

"Captain, good to see you again!", Tom cried, as both away teams entered the bridge.  
"Nice to be back on board, Commander."  
"What about the virus?", the doctor asked via communication system, "Were you able to infect the Borg?"  
"Yes, but your virus has a damn long incubation period", Kathryn said. "I know what we have to do!", Princess Aeria cried , "Voyager. Initiate sequence Eighteen!"  
Kathryn and Chakotay looked at each other, because none of them knew what sequence Eighteen was.  
It took a few seconds before they realized what Aeria's plan was. Kathryn was shocked when Aeria's Voyager suddenly changed course and formally fell down on the Borg cube and crashed.  
The cube exploded and the Super Drones, who fought with the carean starfighters seemed to suffer from a power failure and crashed as well.  
The remaining Voyagers and the fighters were hit by a shock wave.  
"Why have you done this?", Kathryn asked, as the bustle of the fight was over, "Why did you destroy your ship?" "The virus only needed a kick to start", Aeria said, who knew what her mother thought, namely that the future Kathryn would kill her for sure when she learned her ship was destroyed.  
"But not in this way!", Kathryn's voice was loud, "Have you even thought about your crew for a second?!"  
"The crew is safe: The introduction of the sequence Eighteen implies that all crewmembers were beamed to Captain Janeway's ship."  
"She knew about it?" The fact they hadn´t shared their plan, made Kathryn even more angry.  
"Don´t worry, mother. Your ship won´t end the same way", she calmed her," The future is in constant change, as I already said. For your daughter, there is now no reason to travel twenty years in the past." She had talked to Captain Janeway before this mission and she would help her to get back home in her time.  
"This in turn means the Voyager crew of the past doesn´t has to defeat the Borg alone. What you say is quite a paradox... "  
"Captain!", Harry Kim exclaimed, "I've just intercepted a message from the planet Corellia."  
"What are they saiying?", Chakotay asked.  
"A Borg attack was just in progress..."  
Kathryn and Chakotay looked worriedly.  
"Before the cubes neared the planet, they collided and exploded in orbit... A similar message comes from the Endoran- system... And from the Xentia- system. "  
"I would say our mission was successful," Aeria confirmed.

The princess had left an hour ago and Janeway kept her promise to help Aeria and her crew return home.  
While they waited, the crew members of their own Voyager started with repair work. "Your Majesty, can you please hand me this laser pen?", Commander Paris asked, who was trying to fix a console.  
"Of course," she handed him the tool, when a small, shiny object caught her eye. She picked it up and smiled. "Excuse me, Commander."  
"Sure…"  
She got up and went to her husband, who tried to calibrate the sensors with Harry and B'Elanna. Both apologized: They would continue to work in the engineering. "Who would just wear this?", Kathryn asked when she stepped next to Chakotay.  
"What?", curiously, he glanced at her hand and his face brightened.  
"I found this on the floor and thought you might like to have this back."  
"Thank you." He took the carean military badge of a General and attached it to his collar.  
"How´s the repair?", she asked. She saw the second Voyager appeared on the main screen. It was time to return home.

Kathryn was relieved to see her homeworld again and she knew many crewmembers felt the same. It was summer on Carea and when the weather was good, most inhabitants of the main continent spent time at the beach. Mostly, there were thunderstorms in the evenings of the hot season, but Kathryn liked the warm rain on her skin. Voyager was again in the hangar where the ship used to dock and the second Voyager had received a dock right next to the ship. Kathryn found it was a little strange to see two spaceships of the same type next to each other, but she was pleased she could persuade the crew of the second Voyager to relaxing holidays. The end of the Borg was an event, celebrated throughout the galaxy, as far as Kathryn had heard.  
She and Chakotay just walked through the palace and Kathryn linked arms with her husband. She smiled at him. Kathryn was dressed in the light blue dress she had worn a few days ago, when they introduced Riehsa to the population. It flattered her in combination with her blue eyes and red hair.  
Aeria ran ahead of her parents and she seemed to be particularly excited because they just walked toward the stables.  
"Let's get Riehsa and then stroll along the beach," Chakotay suggested, "Or should we prefer to travel to Caro?" The royal family of Carea owned a house on the forest moon and they had already spent a few vacations there.  
"No, I have other plans for the house," she answered.  
"So? Will you tell me about it?"  
Kathryn was about to respond, when they met Captain Janeway and Commander Chaktoay. Both seemed to be in high spirits and they felt a little caught when they met them. "Captain, how are you?", Kathryn asked.  
"Oh... We just finished a tour through the palace with Commander Paris," Janeway said, turning to the queen, "This is really a very nice Planet." And the palace was very impressive: The radiant marble and gold were a perfect contrast to the cloudless blue sky.  
"Thank you... Like your accommodation?"  
"It's very nice," Janeway thought of the guest quarters, which was located next to the gardens, "It´s very unfortunate we have to leave in two weeks ..." Carea was a paradise. When she realized how happy the crew was here, she wondered whether it was right to continue the journey to the Alpha Quadrant. The two crews got along well.  
Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres walked past them. "Captain, we could also stay here," Tom suggested.  
"Thanks for the offer," Chakotay answered immediately, "It is hard enough to be friends with one of you. I don´t think Carea would survive a second Tom Paris."  
"Your Tom Paris is a good guy," Tom said, "He has kindly given me his entire music database. There's a band called AC/DC..."  
"I have no idea who that is," Chakotay said as he noticed Kathryn questioning look.  
They saw how Tom rolled his eyes then he and B'Elanna left.  
"Captain, most but not all crew members agreed when we decided to stay on Carea", Chakotay told Janeway, "If you allow, some crew members could accompany you on your journey to Earth."  
"I think that's fine," Janeway said, "If you want, we can show you how to communicate with the Alpha Quadrant. Then, all crew members, who want to stay could get in touch with their families."  
"Excellent. I´ll inform the crews." Commander Chakotay walked past them, while Princess Aeria lead her father to the horses which stretched their heads curiously from the windows in the barn.  
Janeway turned to Kathryn: "What about you?", she asked.  
"We?", Kathryn looked at her husband, "We have obligations. We are needed here."  
"I understand... May I ask you a question?"  
Kathryn hesitated. "Of course…"  
"Do you sometimes miss the Alpha Quadrant?"  
"No," she replied and Janeway seemed surprised, "Why should I miss something I don´t know? Carea is my home. My family lives here... I hope by the way, you´re not mad because of that... "  
"No, I'm not," Captain Janeway confirmed.  
"Excellent," the queen smiled when she watched how her husband lifted Aeria up she could pet a brown horse.  
"What´s your future plan now that the Borg are destroyed?"  
"I don´t know," Kathryn admitted, "Reign my planet. Raise my children... " She even considered to have more children, even though she had to admit she had imagined a pregnancy was easier. She thought about how difficult the last weeks before Riehsas birth were.  
"Whatever you're planning, I hope it will become as you have imagined."  
"I wish you well, Captain."

"Janey, do you know where the Queen is?", Chakotay asked, when he entered their home the evening. He had just been in his ready room on Voyager, because when he heard Captain Janeway's suggestion worked to provide them a way to communicate with Earth, he didn´t want to miss to write a letter to his sister. He told her about Kathryn, the children and Carea. Next month he would send her a picture of his family if there was enough space in the data stream.  
"The Queen's in Princess Aeria's room", Janey replied.  
He thanked for the information and left the living room through the door that led into the hall to the nurserys. Outside the nursery was a box. Chakotay knew a cradle was inside and it was a gift from the Minister of Corellia. The gift had arrived before Kathryn told him she wouldn´t support him in the battle against the Borg. Chakotay suspected the gift should influence her decision, but Kathryn wasn´t corrupt. They also didn´t need the cradle. Janey had confirmed. They already had a cradle for the baby aboard Voyager and at the Royal Palace so they wanted to give the furniture Tom and B'Elanna.  
"Here you are." It was almost dark in Aeria´s room when Kathryn was sitting in a chair. In her arms she held the baby, which was sleeping and Aeria played with a pink plush horse.  
"I have some news for you: Captain Janeway has just left to travel to Caro," Chakotay sat down beside her and put his right arm around her, "When I told Commander Chakotay about the peace on Caro, he thought it´s also a good destination", he looked up and admired the pattern the night lamp threw at the ceiling, "I'm curious to see if your plan will work and what the two say when they find out we have _accidentally_ lodged them at the same time in the house." He heard his wife laughing softly.  
"I'm a bit tired...", she admitted, raising her head.  
"Shall I take care of Riehsa for a while?"  
"I'm her mother and must be strong for her," she said when she swayed the baby in her arms.  
"Mothers don´t need to be strong always", he took the baby from her, "Give fathers also an opportunity... Which reminds me I have something for you. I've decided to give it to you now. "  
Kathryn raised her head curiously and her eyes lit up when he put Aeria's wooden pendant in her hand.  
"Dearest, this is beautiful," she smiled and she noticed he had improved the pendant by having added a back, which was also decorated with patterns.  
"Unfortunately, our daughter has quite spoiled my surprise for you for wedding anniversary..." And he had to think about a new gift for her now.

"No, it's a nice pendant," she smiled and snuggled up to him. They enjoyed the silence for a while and finally Chakotay asked: "Do you still have pain in your shoulder?"  
"Yes, a bit," Kathryn agreed.  
"Should I give you a massage?"  
"Maybe later...", she raised her head and looked at him with sparkling eyes, "When the children are in bed, we should go to Voyager. There´s a Holodeck- program I've always wanted to try and you should join me. After all, that I don´t know New Earth has almost plunged us to destruction..."

"I´d love to spend some time with you there", he smiled, "I could cook for you…"

"Which is the best part of our relationship."

"You think this is the best part?", he asked, "I show you what the best part is." He kissed her and heard her giggling. "I know you hear that often, but I love you", Kathryn said.  
"I love you, too."  
Her forehead leaning on his neck, she closed her eyes tiredly to try to sleep. They had no idea how long they were sitting in the chair and tried to rest. Sometime registered Kathryn how Aeria also climbed to them in the chair and clung to her mother. Kathryn put an arm around her. Her eyes were getting heavier and Chakotay noticed the breathing sound of his wife had a calming effect on him.  
At that moment, Janey appeared in the doorway to the nursery. "Forgive me for disturbing you...", she said, then turned to Commander Paris and his wife B'Elanna, "I'm sorry. They are asleep. Apparently they forgot you wanted to have dinner together..."  
"Then let them sleep," Tom decided, "We will come over another time..."  
Janey nodded and watched how the two left the quarters. Then Janey entered the nursery, took the baby from Chakotay and put the princess in her bed. Janey also laid Aeria in her bed and turned off the dim lighting in the room. Last, she closed the door behind her to let them sleep...

Fin?


	8. Lost Planet Part I

Title: Lost Planet I  
Author: DancingStar  
Pairing: Janeway/ Chakotay  
Raing: 12  
Category: AU, Romance  
What happens: Mysterious things happen on Carea.  
Notes: Take one of the best series in the world, a pinch of Star Wars (for this reason the Royal Palace of Carea looks just like Amidala's Palace), mix both well and cook it for several weeks. In the end, you refine the story and present it to other fans for reading.

 **Lost Planet I**

The Voyager glided through space, heading for a planet in the outer space of the Juhanah system. Chakotay left the ready room. "Tom, did Neelix already report?", he asked and sat down in the command chair.  
"Yes, he is ready for picking up and can´t wait to get home again," he confirmed. And to be honest, he also couldn´t wait to get back to Carea, too. His wife B'Elanna and his child were waiting there.  
"I hope his trade mission has been successful." Chakotay thought Kathryn had sent Neelix to Juhanah because the inhabitants were apparently distant relatives of the Talaxians.  
"Captain, we're in the orbit of Juhanah II, now", Harry Kim told and immediately a bright blue planet appeared on the screen. It reminded Chakotay a little of Carea, who was also a blue and green ball in space.  
"Excellent, ensign. Take Mister Neelix on board."  
"Aye, sir." Harry's fingers scurried over the console. "Transporter Room One reports, Mister Neelix is now on board." An alarming sound then attracted his attention.  
"What's going on?", Chakotay asked, standing in front of Harry's station.  
"This is a message from the Royal Palace of Carea..."  
"Video or audio?"  
"Neither," Harry stopped and became pale, "They report, the queen is dead..."  
"What?", Tom, who was standing next to the control station, sounded shocked. The bridge crew had interrupted their work and many pairs of eyes were directed at Harry. "...They write, we should return to Carea immediately."  
"Set a course, Ensign," Tom said and Samantha Wildman nodded. Tom saw in the corner of his eye how Chakotay returned to his commanding chair. He could still see the horror and shock in the face of his friend trying to keep his emotions under control.

Chakotay hated that the return journey to Carea lasted almost fifteen hours at top speed. He and a lot of the crew had only been away for two days to pick up Neelix and he wondered what happened on Carea. He had talked to his wife last night and had sworn to her he wouldn´t be long. He couldn´t believe she was dead. It felt so unreal. He felt sick every time he thought of it and a strange feeling lay around his heart.  
There was not much to read from the news they had received. When the Voyager reached the hangar next to the Royal Palace on Carea, only a few technicians were in bright excitement. "Strange," Tom remarked, recognizing the men in blue uniforms, "At the terrible news, I expected B'Elanna to be waiting for us."  
"I expected them to fly the flags of the palace at half-mast," Samantha Wildman confirmed.  
Chakotay had no patience to wait until the ship had landed and he left the bridge already. As soon as the Voyager was docked and the entrance hatches opened, he left the space ship.  
Outside, he hurriedly ran through the hangar. "General...!", Cierra led a group of court ladies. The young women stood aside. A red-haired woman in a long red dress appeared, she put down the dark haired girl she had carried on her arm and hurriedly ran towards him. They hugged each other. "Kathryn," he held her tightly and kissed her temple, "I thought you were dead. We received a message hours ago..."  
"I know," she muttered, still holding her arms tightly around his neck.  
"The idea that I could never see you again made me almost mad." He was very relieved. Then he recalled her words and brought a little distance between her and himself, but he didn´t let her go. "You know about it?"  
"A Carean freighter told us about the horrible news fourteen hours ago. The captain of the freighter was as excitedly as you did. He was crying horribly and when the technicians were able to soothe him, he showed them the news. The Intelligence Service then found the message and stopped it. Nevertheless, it had already been published on some news channels. "  
"And are you OK?"  
"Yes, of course I am fine." And she guessed what his next question would be, "We don´t know who has spread this news. B'Elanna is already talking to the Intelligence Service. She tries to find the author of the message... I'm relieved you're back with me."  
"Me too." They hugged each other. Then he took Aeria on his arm  
Hand in hand they went back to the palace. "I'm glad you're fine," Chakotay said, "but I'd be even better to find the author of this news."

At night, a dark shadow fell over the bed of Kathryn and Chakotay. Both of them were sleeping peacefully as a small figure came to his side and woke him up.  
"Daddy," Aeria whispered, "Wake up. We have to pick up Janey."  
Chakotay squinted tiredly at the digital clock display next to his bed. It was exactly 4:23 a.m., and his daughter was standing next to his bed. "Aeria, do you know what time it is?", he asked, but he didn´t really expected an answer. Instead, he tried to figure out in how many hours they would pick up Janey.  
"Go back to bed...", he finally muttered, turned to Kathryn, wrapped his arms around her and Aeria decided to ask her mother. She ran quickly to the other side of the bed.  
"Mommy," she began, shaking her mother's shoulder until she opened her eyes, "Cierra and I want to pick up Janey. Daddy doesn´t want to come."  
Kathryn raised her head without orientation. Her eyes burned as she realized it was still dark outside. "It's still almost night...", Kathryn's eyes now fell on the time display next to her bed. She rolled her eyes a little when she saw the clock. It took almost four hours to pick up Janey.  
Aria was disappointed. "Can I sleep here?", she asked then and Kathryn nodded. She tried to turn around, but she pushed a warm, sleeping obstacle in the shape of her husband. She clung to him.  
Aeria rejoiced and climbed onto the bed and over her parents. On the other side of the bed she crawled under the blanket and finally fell asleep.

Hours later a sunbeam shone directly into Chakotay's face. He turned on his back and when he opened his eyes for a second, he noticed that Kathryn was still sleeping in his arms. He smiled. But there was something else. There was a little dark-haired girl on the right side of him, sleeping on his empty side of the bed, curling up under the covers.  
When Chakotay had become accustomed to the light, he tried to wake up Kathryn. "Let's get up," he murmured softly.  
"No, not now," Kathryn yawned and put one of her hands on her eyes to protect herself against the bright light.  
"We have to. We promised Aeria we would pick up Janey today. She can´t wait to see her again." Apparently Aeria had missed the court lady of her mother and friend of the family. And Chakotay guessed she missed her so much that she had forced Cierra to help her at four o'clock in the morning dressing her in a bright blue tulle dress.  
"Yes I know…. I can remember she was standing in front of our bed last night. "  
"Have you allowed her to sleep here in out bed?"  
"Yes," Kathryn didn´t try to get up. They had won the fight against the Borg only three weeks ago and allowed themselves a time-out. Janey had traveled home to her family on the other side of the main continent, while Kathryn, Chakotay, their family and the crew of the Voyager stayed in Berra. They just participated in the wedding of the senator of Sembra Prime. After they had saved a few million planets from the Borg, they deserved this trip, Chakotay thought. Kathryn remembered the pink tulle dress Cierra chose for her. Aeria thought, her mother looked like a ballet dancer in her dress and Chakotay whispered to her not to listen to her daughter. Before she started arranging her long, red hair in a hairdo be pulled her closer. "Don´t", he said, "I like your hair like this." She was a bit perplexed when he decided to use this situation to kiss her.

Kathryn noticed how Chakotay climbed out of bed over her, and when he knelt over her, he kissed her forehead. Then he left the bedroom. In the living room next door, he was talking to a person, but Kathryn couldn´t tell what they were talking about. Then Chakotay returned to her.  
"You have another hour, my queen," he said to her. "If we want to pick up Janey, we have to be at the train station at 8 a.m."

"Did you know Janey's mother is a healer?", Kathryn wanted to know from Chakotay while they were on the way to the platform of the station. They went with Aeria to the shuttle station of Berra. A digital ad advised them that the Shuttle from the Lakeland had just landed. The small vessel had arrived on schedule and some of the passengers were already leaving.  
"I didn´t know," Chakotay admitted. Aeria was excited and Kathryn reached out for her daughter.  
"From her came the clue to take you to the healing springs of Carea when you were shot at the time by a phaser of the Preem. You owe her life, so to speak."  
"Thank god. It´s a good life", he said and saw her smiling. The last passengers left the small transporter and finally the pilot switched off the energy core. But Janey was nowhere to be seen. "Mommy, where is Janey?", Aeria asked, her arms reaching for her mother because she wanted to be lifted.  
"I don´t know...", Kathryn admitted.  
"Wait for me," Chakotay said to them, "I'll ask the pilot."  
They watched as he ran quickly over the platform to talk to the pilot. Kathryn could see how the flight attendant even checked the passenger list and finally shook her head. Chakotay thanked them, crossed the platform again and returned to his wife. "Janey was not on board...", he told her.  
Kathryn was worried, because this didn´t look like Janey at all.  
"She maybe just missed her ride," Chakotay tried to calm her.  
"When does the next shuttle arrive?"  
"In twenty minutes. Would you like to wait?"

But Janey didn´t arrive with the next transport shuttle. Finally, Kathryn and Chakotay decided to return to the palace with Aeria, because they had left Riehsa with Cierra.  
They waited for Janey until late at night, trying not to let Aeria know their worries.  
When the sun went down, Chakotay decided he was going to ask Harry to talk to the secret service. Harry's fiance worked there. She was a local woman. One month ago Harry was promoted as a Lieutenant.  
"It's late," Chakotay said to Aeria, when it was already dark outside, "You have to go to bed, Princess."  
"Do you tell me a story?", Aeria asked as her father when he lifted her on his arm and carried her to her room, "I want to hear the story of the Starfleet captain who falls in love with a queen."  
"Alright," he replied, placing the girl in her bed and covered her with a blanket. Then he sat next to her and began to tell her about a beautiful queen who lived in a distant galaxy a long time ago. Aeria listened intently and she didn´t notice her mother stood on the doorstep to her room and also listened.  
"Majesty," a soft voice behind Kathryn exclaimed, "I've put Princess Riehsa to bed." It was Cierra.  
"Thank you. You can go home if you want. "  
Cierra tilted her head and then went to the door. When she went, Tom and B'Elanna entered. Kathryn came to meet them.  
"Is there any news yet?", Tom asked, "Did Harry already report?"  
"No," Kathryn shook her head. "The intelligence service is still busy trying to find the sender of the news that proclaimed my death."  
"We should look for Janey," Tom suggested.  
"But we don´t know where to begin. She could be anywhere." Kathryn decided to search the palace as soon as possible.  
Tom and B'Elanna sat with their baby on the opposite sofa. Miral wept. Every time B'Elanna was with her, the baby seemed to be very wary, and B'Elanna complained she didn´t even rest at night.  
Kathryn got up. "B'Elanna, come with me. I have an idea, "she said. They went with the baby to Riehsa's room. "What are you up to?", B´Elanna asked, when the room lit slightly. "Put Miral next to Riehsa for a while," Kathryn suggested.  
"Are you sure? I don´t want Miral to wake your daughter. "  
"Riehsa is a relaxed baby. She'll be able to handle it."  
"Envious," commented B'Elanna and finally put her baby next to Riehsa and covered them both. It took a while, but Miral seemed to calm down. B'Elanna breathed out relieved. "Thank you," she said, "Sometimes I think, I´m a horrible mother."

"Oh, believe me. I also have this moments where my children drive me crazy."

"Hard to believe… How did you know Miral would calm down?"  
"Intuition," Kathryn answered. And she had an intuition about Janey's puzzling disappearance.  
"B'Elanna, can you and Tom stay here for a while and take care of the kids? Chakotay and I won´t be long."

Chakotay responded with surprise when Kathryn asked him to accompany her through the palace at this late hour. He wasn't able to figure out what was wrong when she stopped outside Janey's room. Kathryn shook at the door. "Locked," she said disappointedly, but then she had an idea.  
"What are you up to?", Chakotay asked as Kathryn pulled a hairpin out of her hair. The elegant hairstyle instantly collapsed and her hair fell over her shoulders like a waterfall.  
"Can you open the door for me?" It didn´t sound like a question, but rather like a command.  
"As you wish, my queen," and he added: "In fact, nothing has changed." She gave him orders when she was the captain and now she was queen and nothing changed.

Chakotay took the hairpin, put it in the lock of the door and pushed the needle to the right. It took a while, but finally the lock opened. "We're lucky this part of the castle wasn´t destroyed during the attack of the Preem," Chakotay said to Kathryn while he opened the door for her. There was no reason to change the lock on this door. She was well aware it wasn´t that easy to break in the royal family's home.  
Janey's room lit up when they entered and Kathryn looked around. "Can you see something unusual?", she asked.  
"This, for example?," Chakotay noticed a suitcase and put it on the empty bed.  
"Janey's luggage is still here."  
"And it's pretty easy..."  
"Janey told me she always travels with an almost empty piece of luggage. She can go shopping with her family, "Kathryn replied. "Is the suitcase locked?"  
"Yes, but we have the same."  
The lock on the case was a starfleet standard lock, which required the input of four digits. At first he tried Janey's birthday. The input was wrong, so the four numbers on the lock glowed red. "Try my birthday," Kathryn suggested and when her husband had entered the numbers, they lit up again.  
They looked at each other. "Aeria's birthday", they decided at the same time and when Chakotay entered the digits, which was for January the fifth, the lock shone green. The suitcase was open and they opened the shell. In fact, there were hardly any clothes but some food for Janey's family in it.  
"It's quite strange that Janey's suitcase is still here..."  
"Yes, it's almost as if she had never been away," Kathryn remarked, "I have a very bad feeling..."

The next day, Kathryn decided to visit Janey's mother on the other side of the main continent. "Your Majesty, you should leave the Royal Highnesses in the palace," Cierra sounded gravely.  
"Don´t worry, I wasn´t going to take the princesses with me."  
"Who will accompany you?"  
"I," Chakotay interrupted, "I've said this to Janey and I tell you, too: I swear I'll protect the Queen with my life."  
"All right, General." Cierra gave in.  
Kathryn and Chakotay set out early in the morning and they borrowed one of the Voyager shuttles. It was strange to see only one Voyager in the hangar: Although the crew of the second Voyager had only been on Carea for two weeks, they had become accustomed to the sight of two spaceships. Kathryn remembered how she had sent one of her court ladies out of curiosity to her vacation home on the moon Caro, where she had been quartering Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay "accidentally" at the same time, but Millah did not want to talk.  
Kathryn and Chakotay left the hangar with the shuttle on time and reached the house where Janey's family lived, after a half-hour flight.  
After the shuttle had landed, Kathryn saw a young woman running into the house. She knew it was Janey's younger sister.  
"The people here don´t get a visit from their queen very often," Chakotay suspected, while Kathryn sank into the copilot's seat.  
"Looks like that," she agreed, "You know, I always wonder if I could have said or done something what annoyed Janey and so she left."

"I don´t think it's your fault," Chakotay told her, "Janey wouldn´t have gone away without saying goodbye."

He also reminded her of the suitcase, which was still in her quarters in the palace.  
They left the shuttle and walked over the cobblestone surface in front of the house. The people in this area lived modestly and almost without technology. Janey was quite different from the residents of this house. Her curiosity was also a reason why she had entered the service of the Queen.  
As Kathryn and Chakotay approached the little house, an old woman stepped out.  
"This is Janey's mother," she said, and finally turned to the woman, "My name is..."  
"I know who you are, Your Majesty," Janey's mother replied, "And I know who you are, General." She took a step to the side. "Please come in. But my house is plain. It is quite different from what you are accustomed to from the palace. "  
"I think that's all right."  
They sat down in a room which had to be the living room and Janey's mother offered them a tea. Because there was no electricity in the house, they would have to wait a while before the tea was ready.  
"I´m very relieved you are doing well, Your Majesty," Janey's mother said. The shocking news of the Queen's death had also been spread among the Carean population and Kathryn still wondered who was capable of such a horrifying act. Apparently, many people had burst into tears, confirming that she obviously had to be a good queen.  
"What brings you to me, Your Majesty?", Janey's mother asked.  
"Your daughter. We thought Janey was with you, and when she didn´t come back from her trip yesterday, we searched the quarters of the palace, "Kathryn told her," Maya, your daughter's suitcase was still there. It looked like as if she had never set out for this journey. "  
"Do you have an idea where Janey could be?", Chakotay asked.  
"No." Maya shook her head, "We didn´t even know Janey wanted to come."  
This statement alerted Kathryn. "Do you think she didn´t want to visit her family?", she asked her husband.  
"But where else would she be?", Maya asked. "We have no relatives." She sighed. "I've always told Janey to stay here and stop searching for adventures. At that time I couldn´t prevent her from leaving. Sometimes I regret that when she tells me of your excursions. "  
"But…"  
"No," Janey's mother got up and wiped tears from her face, "Majesty, it's better you leave now."

"Kathryn, wait!", Chakotay shouted after her when she hurriedly ran into a group of people at home in the garden of the palace. The group consisted of Tom, B'Elanna, Neelix, Cierra and the  
Children. Princess Aeria was just playing with Naomi Wildman and they all enjoyed the weather.  
On Carea, the weather was warm and sunny throughout the year, but it was overwhelmingly hot in the summer months. This was because Carea was the second planet in an eight-planet system and only the second and third planet, Sacala, were inhabited.  
When Kathryn had reached them, she took the baby from Cierra. Kathryn walked away with tears in her eyes and Riehsa in her arms.  
"Is everything all right, Your Majesty?", Cierra called after her, but Kathryn didn´t answer.

"Obviously not," Tom said. They turned to Chakotay, who also reached them.  
"No, it didn´t work out very well." He told them the details of the visit to Janey's mother. Then, he decided, he had to follow his wife. She had reached the staircase to the terrace and entered her quarters with Riehsa.  
"Wait for me!", he called after her and finally caught up with her.  
"She's right," Kathryn said furiously, "It's my fault Janey has disappeared."  
"She didn´t say that," Chakotay told her.  
"Indirectly she did! And it is my fault, "she said, "I lost Janey, "she looked at him and held Riehsa close. "If someone would to lose my daughter...", Kathryn swallowed her tears," I would kill those."

When she said this, Aeria entered the living room in Cierra's escort. The princess looked very good-humored. "Wait a second," Chakotay said to Kathryn, taking her baby off. Riehsa clung to him.  
"Cierra?"  
"Yes, General?"  
"Would you take care of the princesses for a while?"  
"Of course," Cierra replied, Chakotay handed over the baby to her.  
"Excellent."  
Kathryn couldn´t interpret his facial expression exactly before he led her out of her quarters and then walked with her hand in hand through the palace.  
"What are you doing?", She asked skeptically.  
"We take a walk," he told her, "So you can calm down a little."  
They didn´t speak a word until they reached the garden. "Can you remember the simulation of the battle against Krall?", Chakotay wanted to know.  
"Of course." Kathryn was still remembering the simulation they were doing on the Holodeck because Chakotay ordered Neelix to choose a challenging combat situation for the crew. Kathryn was four month pregnant with Riehsa, but she wanted to participate in the training. The simulation was similar to a fight of the Enterprise under the command of Captain Kirk and also the Voyager was attacked by a bee-like species, which eventually separated Voyager into all its parts. They failed in the fight and the ship crashed into the planet. The crew left the holodeck with dirty and partly torn uniforms. Besides, they were frustrated.  
"Then you can definitely remember that our ship crashed in the simulation..."  
"Yes. It was horrible."  
"There is something else I remember," he saw her puzzled look, so he decided to release her, "There was a holographic Aeria in the simulation. I remember the panic in your eyes when we realized the ship would crash. And although you knew it was just a holo-program and the crew would survive, you protected the holographic Aeria with your life. You think you have to reproach yourself, but you don´t have to", he knew exactly what she wanted to say next, but he didn´t let her, "And I'm not just saying that. You are my wife, my partner, my best friend and the mother of my children. And... ", he stopped," And the love of my life. The news of your death almost killed me."  
She was touched by this confession. "I know," she replied, leaning against him. At that moment, a sound above their heads caught their attention and they looked up.

A small space ship headed for a hangar and pulled a tail of dark smoke behind it. "I know this space ship," Kathryn stated, "it belongs to the Senator of Sembra Prime."

They immediately set out for the hangar next to the Royal Palace and after the small ship had landed, some mechanics gathered at its bow. The men tried to simmer the source of the smoke.  
"Looks pretty worn," Tom commented, joining Kathryn and Chakotay on the way to the hangar. The ship's source of energy was apparently at the bow, and it seemed to be hit by a weapon.  
"What could have happened?", Kathryn asked. In her and the Sembra planetary system peace prevailed and she couldn´t imagine that someone would attack the senator.  
An entrance hatch at the ship opened and a woman in a lilac suit got out. "Your Majesty," she bowed her head before Kathryn, "I am relieved to see you. The news of your death was terrible. Her Royal Highness Princess Aeria of Carea is much too young to become a queen. "  
"Yes, I know," Kathryn swallowed heavily when she grabbed the senator's hands, "We are still looking for the author of this news." She looked at the severely damaged space ship of the Senator. "What happened?"  
Suddenly the young woman looked very worried. "Sembra Prime dies. And I'll die with it."

"Do you need medical help?", Chakotay asked and the young woman shook her head.  
"Thank you, that is very kind."  
"Who attacked you, senator?", Kathryn wanted to know. They accompanied her through the hangar.  
"I don´t know. No matter who attacked me, it came out of nowhere. I'm sure it's related to the strange events on Sembra Prime. "  
They reached a corridor leading to the palace gardens.  
"What do you think?", Kathryn hung up at Chakotay.  
"Some things have changed on Sembra. The weather, for example. It's completely different... The core of the planet has changed... "  
Because Kathryn and Chakotay obviously didn´t know what she was talking about, she suggested an explanation. "The core of the planet is an artefact, which has chosen the ruler of Sembra generations ago, according to a legend. It represents more or less the state of the planet. A few weeks ago, the artifact changed - it's usually a red hot energy source - its color to blue. Since then there are only problems. And if these develop as much as before, then Sembra dies. I will then die with my planet because the artifact and the ruler are connected. After my death, the artifact could then seek a new ruler if... If Sembra were still there." The young senator shook her head. "I should have listened to Janey when she warned me."  
When she mentioned this name, Kathryn gave her husband a frightened look. "Janey?"  
"Yes. She appeared on the scene a few weeks ago and told me Sembra is in danger."  
"What did she look like?"

"She has about my height but ashy blond hair and fair skin. I think she had blue eyes, and when she first met me, she was wearing an orange suit, which reminds me of your court ladies."  
"By chance, we're looking for a person who matches your description," Chakotay said. "What do you think about when we accompany you to Sembra?" He could feel Kathryn's gratitude for his suggestion.  
"To be honest, I was hoping you'd say that."

They immediately flew to Sembra and landed the Voyager a little outside the capital. Chakotay took Kathryn off in their quarters, before they wanted to set out with the senator to look for the core of the planet.

"This is terrible," Kathryn said, looking out of the window. The sight of the snowy landscape made her shiver. The surface of Sembra Prime was buried under a thick snow cover.  
"What?", Chakotay stepped beside her, "I don´t see anything."  
"That's exactly the problem," she shook her head.  
"You're used to the heat, darling," Chakotay said, "Carea is a very warm planet."  
"I didn´t know the situation on Sembra Prime is so serious." Normally, Sembra Prime was also a very warm planet. That it was snowing wasn´t a good sign.  
"I´m sure we can save Sembra."  
"Really?", she looked at him questioningly, "Why?"  
"Aeria. Our adult daughter. She said Riehsa couldn´t come in our time because she was visiting the Senator's daughter on Sembra Prime. That means the planet will still exist in 20 years. "  
"But Aeria also said the future is constantly changing."  
"Paris to the Captain," Tom suddenly interrupted them via Com, "We're ready to go and wait for you in the transporter room two."  
"Thank you, Tom. We'll come immediately."

Almost silently, the shuttle hovered through the empty streets of the capital. The houses were also buried under a thick snow cover. Not a single creature was outside and the city seemed to be extinct. It was spooky.  
Chakotay saw the worries in Kathryn's face. "They're all safe for sure," he tried to calm her.  
"I wouldn´t bet on it," the senator corrected him, "Two days ago the electricity has failed and it is only a matter of time before the water supply collapses."  
At the end of a long, wide street they saw the government building and Samantha Wildman steered the shuttle to it. She landed and everyone got out.  
"It's terribly cold," Kathryn noted when they all walked up the long staircase to the building. She had expected a better situation inside, but the carpet in the hall leading to the main hall was covered with snow, too. The roof had collapsed underneath the snow-burrows.  
"Follow me, please," the senator led them down the corridor to the room where the artifact was kept.

"Maybe Janey is a ghost", Chakotay suddelny said.

"Ghosts do not exist", Tom answered.

"I wouldn´t be so sure about that."

"What?"

"There was a reason why nobody was allowed to enter the west- Tower of the palace…"

Tom thought about Chakotays words. "The West- Tower? It was destroyed in the attack of the Preem."

"Yes, and before it was destroyed, nobody was allowed to enter. An old story says that the ghost of a woman called Mary was kept there."

"Is this story true?"

"Nobody was allowed to enter the tower."

They reached the massive door which hid the artefact. "When I hold the Core of the Planet in my hands, I have at least the possibility to found a colony that...", she didn´t finish her sentence because the room in which the artifact was to be found, was empty. "Someone must have stolen it..."

They searched the entire government building for the Core of the Planet, but they didn´t find it. At the same time, three other teams searched the city for Janey and they couldn´t report positive results either.  
In the evening Kathryn was still froze and when she returned to her quarters on the Voyager and the children slept, she took a hot bath. As she dived slowly into the water, she felt as if she had just thawed. Tiredly, she leaned back and enjoyed the warmth as long as it was possible. A few minutes later she heard a voice in the bedroom next door: "Aeria, do you know where Mommy is?"  
It was Chakotay. And Kathryn had actually thought Aeria would sleep but instead she heard Aeria answer. The next moment the door to the bathroom opened hissingly and Chakotay stepped in.

"I almost thought you were here," he said to her as he sat on the edge of the bathtub, "How do you feel?"  
"My feet are like ice cubes," Kathryn replied, "And I'm sure they still look like that." She lifted her feet out of the warm water. "After the bath, I´ll lie down in my warm, cuddly bed and sleep for 100 years." She noticed the padd in his hand, "What is that?"  
"A vision of the light in a difficult time: Harry gave me a letter from my twin sister half an hour ago." When she learned about his sister, he told her Sekaya was fifteen minutes older than him and there were lots of twins in his family. Kathryn immediately understood he only wanted to annoy her a bit and tell her they could possibly have twins, too.  
"What was in the letter?"  
"She wrote, she and her mother are doing well. And they are glad I have such a charming family." He told her his sister wrote in her letter that her mother had already framed the attached picture, which he had sent. It was a family photo taken the day after Riehsa's birth, just before they introduced the newborn princess to the public. In addition he should tell his wife how grateful his mother was that he found someone who was meant for him and made him happy.  
"My mother calls you _the red queen_ because of your hair...", Chakotay said and Kathryn nodded knowingly, "... and now she tells all her friends that her grandchildren are the princesses of the planet Carea."  
Kathryn smiled about this remark. Then she noticed a few other PADDs in his hand. "And what is this?"

"News from Starfleet", he replied. Their doubles from another parallel word had showed them how to get in touch with Earth and of course Chakotay had to inform the Starfleet about their situation. Unfortunately this included he had to answer a few unpleasant questions. "I also have a letter from your mother Gretchen", he added and gave her the PADD, "You should read it."

He almost saw her hesitation.  
"Will you come to the shuttle bay to say good-bye to me?", he suddenly asked, "Neelix has reported and he has found someone on Boonta who knows more about the falsity of your death." And he could hardly wait to get this person in his hands.  
"I thought we had agreed we would never separate again..."  
"I didn´t forget that." He leaned over to kiss her. Then he left the bathroom.  
Kathryn left the bathtub, slipped into her bathrobe and then stepped out into the living room. Next door, Aeria sat in her bed and played with a lilac plush horse. Kathryn stroked her daughter's black hair as she passed her. Her gaze fell on the packed travel bag, which was already in front of the bed.  
"How long will you stay on Boonta?"  
"Up to Boonta it's a one-day trip... I guess I'll be with you again in three days."

"Believe me, I don´t like the fact we were sent back to Carea as much as you," Tom told Kathryn when he accompanied her to the bridge. They just came from the shuttle bay where Kathryn had said goodbye to Chakotay. Tom had received some orders and one of them was to return with the ship to Carea.  
"I'm not satisfied with the outcome of this mission: We either haven´t found the artifact nor Janey."  
The Trubolift stopped and they got out.  
"Commander, the Captain's shuttle is ready to go," Harry Kim said. They watched on the main screen how the shuttle flew off to Boonta.  
Tom took a seat on the captain's chair. "Alright. I don´t like it but command is command: Samantha, set a course to Carea."  
"Aye Sir."

Three days passed and Kathryn stood at the window and looked out anxiously. Quick steps came closer. "Your Majesty," a female voice said, "You wanted to talk to us."  
Kathryn turned and saw Cierra and Millah standing in front of her desk.  
"Yes," she replied, "I think we have to expect Janey won´t come back. Wherever she is at the moment..." She saw how Millah and Cierra looked at each other worried. "Cierra, I know that we don´t always agree and you have to know everything better... But I need your help more than ever. Do you both think you can handle this task?"  
"Yes, Your Majesty," Millah bowed her head. She was worried because the queen was walking around her and the desk.  
Cierra nodded, "I'll try to become cool... As Commander Paris and Ensign Kim would say."  
They heard the heavy door open at the other end of the room. Tom Paris entered the throne room. "You should look at that," he said to Kathryn, activating a holographic projector in her desk. They saw the figure of a Marian newsreader who reported about a shuttle crash on Boonta. "The General is on Boonta", Kathryn said to Tom and he crossed his arms in front of the chest.  
"The media on Mariana and Boonta are showing these images of the crash in a loop," Tom reported, stopping the image when it seemed to show some kind of warp gondola. "Your Majesty, that's our shuttle," he said, "It's the general's shuttle. It has crashed."

Fin


	9. Lost Planet II

Title: Lost Planet II  
Author: Dancing Star  
Pairing: Janeway/ Chakotay  
Raing: 16  
Category: AU, Romance  
Content: Kathryn just received a message her husband would be dead. But is he?  
Notes: A few days ago I arrived at my office with a Captain Janeway – hairstyle, looked in the mirror and said: "Today I look like Captain Janeway." Nobody of my colleagues was laughing, except for my boss. He obviously knows who this is.

 **Lost Planet II**

The Voyager's officers had gathered in the Queen's quarters. Worried, Tom Paris watched the holographic projection of the news speaker.  
"What now?", B'Elanna asked helplessly, who was standing to the left of Tom. She could see that her husband's thoughts were racing.  
"I'm still thinking," Tom answered his wife. He still watched the screen. The marian newsreader, a creature with green scaly skin and yellow reptile-like eyes, reported even one day later about the crash of the shuttle. However, there were no new details about the accident: so far, the authorities had not been able to tell how many people were on board the small ship when it was completely burnt out. Tom now remembered a remark he had made at Harry's promotion ceremony one month ago: he asked Chakotay why he was not promoted to captain. "Because I'm still alive," Chakotay had answered and when Tom thought about it, he felt sorry for his shameless question. To Tom it was a personal disaster that the captain was no longer alive: he appreciated the fact they got along well-better than in the beginning of her journey towards alpha quadrant- and he knew that B'Elanna's friendship with Kathryn and Chakotay was important to her. She found it was pleasant to be able to exchange experiences with Kathryn during pregnancy, because Miral was only a few days younger than Riehsa. Now, everything had changed.  
"Cierra?"  
"Yes, Commander?", Cierra stepped beside Tom. "Make sure Princess Aeria doesn´t learn about this incident," he said.  
"Yes, of course," Cierra nodded. Nevertheless, she wondered how long his plan should work. She stepped back.  
"If you need my help, I'm in Riehsa´s room," B'Elanna informed her husband and Cierra suggested to accompany her. Because Miral was still crying very often, she had put her again to Riehsa. She knew Kathryn wouldn´t mind.  
B'Elanna had left and now Harry came to the place where the half-Klingon had stood. Harry also was very worried.

Kathryn's head ached when she woke up. She realized she was lying on a soft pad, opened her eyes and realized she was in her bedroom. She lay on the bed, but on the wrong side.  
How had she come here? The last thing she remembered was that she had collapsed crying in the throne room. Cierra and Millah were talking to her. A blurry figure, that had been Tom Paris before, called for the doctor. And then it became dark. She couldn´t remember more. Someone had changed her dress before she was put in the bed and Kathryn guessed it was her ladies.  
Kathryn rubbed her eyes and a sound at the door caught her attention. "Mommy?", Aeria entered the bedroom. The dark-haired girl wore a blue night shirt and held her doll in her arm. Kathryn looked at the window and realized the day had already passed and it had become night outside. How long had she slept? And how many hours had passed since...?  
"Mommy, why are Uncle Tom and Aunt B'Elanna here?", Aeria asked.  
Kathryn was searching for words.  
"Mommy, Senator Alisar today said at breakfast that Daddy often flirts with you..."  
"What?", Kathryn's voice trembled. She remembered how she and Aeria had breakfast this morning with the Senatoress of Sembra, and of course Alisar had mentioned it.  
"Is flirting something bad?", Aeria continued asking.  
Kathryn's hands began to shake. "Aeria, I...", she tried to get up, but her legs gave in. Kathryn collapsed and crashed on the floor. As she lay there and raised her head, her gaze fell upon a small box that stood on her chest of drawers. Inside the box was not only a diadem, which was her crown, but also the royal Bond of Carea, a relic which the members of the royal family inherited to their children, and also Kathryn would hand it to Aeria someday. At the wedding, the bond symbolized the couple's cohesion.. In addition, it was a tradition the couple braided a knot in the band for each child they wanted. Kathryn remembered that she and Chakotay had left three knots in their band. This realization hit her hard, she noticed tears running down her face and she began to sob. Now her heart was broken forever.  
Apparently, the noise that caused her fall had lured Tom and the doctor. They hurried into the bedroom. B'Elanna and Cierra, who had just come out of Princess Riehsa's room, also rushed in. "Doc, please help me...", Tom tried to pick up Kathryn to put her back on the bed. The doctor grabbed for her legs. Together they lifted her up.  
"Aeria," B'Elanna reached out for the little girl, "Come on, we're going to your room, darling."  
When Kathryn lay back on her bed, she tried to get up again. "Where is he...?", she asked, and in her head everything began to turn.  
"Doc, can you give her a tranquilizer?", Tom asked.  
Kathryn heard the hiss of a hypospray, then fell again into a dreamless sleep.

When Kathryn awoke again, the sun was already shining on her bed and she could hear voices coming out of the living room of her quarters. Kathryn got up and this time her legs didn´t give in. With wobbly steps, she managed to walk into the room next door. There, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Samantha Wildman and the Doctor were still sitting in front of the holographic projector. The marian media reported only sporadically about the crash.  
B'Elanna was the first to notice her. "How are you?", she asked.  
"Please don´t give me a sedative," she said to the doctor. She went to the couch where B'Elanna and Samantha sat and sat down between them.  
"How are you?", B'Elanna repeated her question when she pushed a cup of tea in Kathryn's direction..She wanted to imply she should have some food and drink.  
"Not very well…. Where are the children?"  
„We sent Cierra and Millah with the princesses, Miral and Naomi to the animal park. There are now small monkeys, so the children will be busy for a while."  
"How is Naomi?", Kathryn wanted to know.  
She didn´t watch the news. She doesn´t know anything about it", Samantha replied. Neelix had also been on the shuttle. Somehow she would have to tell her...  
Kathryn, too, was terrified of having to confess to her daughter that her father was no longer alive. Aeria loved her father like crazy.  
They watched a short report about the crash in the Marian news. When Kathryn saw the debris of the shuttle, her heart stopped and she became sick. She already missed him. How could she raise her children without him? It wasn´t possible for her to survive without Chakotay. She needed him.  
Kathryn noticed she was still staring at the holographic projection. She wanted to cry. The problem was she felt so exhausted she couldn´t cry anymore.  
B'Elanna and Samantha reached for her hands, while Kathryn collapsed and wept bitterly.  
"What are you all doing here?", A voice suddenly asked and everyone turned around.  
They didn´t believe what they saw: Chakotay stood in the doorway and he was well-kept.

""Is there a problem?", Chakotay asked. None of them said a word, but they looked as if they had just seen a ghost: Harry, Tom and the doctor were staring at him while Kathryn sat on the couch between B'Elanna and Samantha. The three women were holding hands and he noticed how terrible his wife looked.  
Kathryn tried to get up but she felt like a foal which was walking on its own feet for the first time. Finally, she managed to walk to him and embrace him hastily. "You're alive...", she sobbed, "I thought I never see you again." Normally, she didn´t cry immediately. She put the blame to the hormones, because after all, Riehsa was only four weeks old.  
The rest of the group was now gathering around him and when he returned Kathryn's embrace, the doctor scanned him. "He's fine," the hologram confirmed nodding.  
Neelix entered the room. Samantha hugged him, then the doctor scanned him.  
"We thought you were dead," Tom explained, who showed the two the holographic projection of a Marian newsreader.  
"Why didn´t you let us know you´re fine?", Kathryn asked, wiping a tear from her eyes. She didn´t want to sound reproachful, but...  
"Neelix and I arrived at Boonta as planned", Chakotay told her.  
"...but our shuttle was stolen there," Neelix added. "A dealer- colleague was kind enough to take us to Carea, but have you ever been on board of a Trillian merchant ship?" The Talaxian smiled as Tom nodded.  
"They don´t have a very good communication system and can only contact other Trillian ships to prevent price agreements with other dealers. The Trillian cartel office has launched this, as far as I know."  
"Yes," Neelix nodded, "We didn´t know what had happened to our shuttle after the theft. "That it crashed, we have just learned from the palace guard."  
"I'm sorry I caused so much trouble," Chakotay apologized to Kathryn, who was still wrapping her arms around his upper body.  
"Anyway, our trip to Boonta was worth it," Neelix continued, "Your Majesty, we've found out who spread the news of your death." The Talaxian looked at the door and Chakotay also turned around. For the second time on this day Kathryn stopped breathing. Janey stood in the doorway...

"I know my appearance only raises more questions than it answers," Janey said.  
"That's true," Tom confirmed, "Where have you been? Do you have just one idea, how worried we were? And what was going on in the last days?"  
"I know, Commander."  
The senior officers were astonished about this answer.  
"Please leave," Janey said to them, "I have to talk to the Queen and the General alone."  
They exchanged a questioning look and everyone rose from the seats. "Good to see you back," Tom said to Chakotay and it was the truth.  
"No," Kathryn interrupted her gravely, "Sit down, Commander," and now she turned to Janey, "If you have something to say, say it now."  
Once again, the senior officers looked at each other anxiously, but everyone sat back in its seat.  
Chakotay accompanied Kathryn to a chair and set on the armrest.  
"First of all, I have to apologize to you," Janey began. "I am starting from the beginning: Your Majesty, I am the author of the news of your death."  
They were anxious to see Kathryn's reaction, but at the moment she wasn´t able to react.  
...I spread the message to take you, General, away as quickly as possible from the Juhanah system. I knew you'd pick Mister Neelix there, but I had to stop you from staying a few days."  
"Are you also responsible for the stolen shuttle on Boonta?", Neelix asked.  
"No, I have nothing to do with that," Janey replied, "It's the truth."  
"Why did you have to take off the captain of the Juhanah system?", Harry asked to return to the beginning of the story.  
"The Senator of Sembra Prime already told you about the artifact which keeps her planet alive is stolen," she said, "My brother did it."  
"Your brother?", Kathryn asked confused, because Janey didn´t have a brother as far as she knew.  
"My brother has problems with a Trillian dealer. He owes him a lot of money. A few weeks ago my brother met a smuggler, who promised him a high money bill when he managed to steal the Core of the planet of Sembra Prime. I tried to talk to my brother, but it didn´t work. He stole the artifact."  
"Where is he now?"  
"I don´t know. I've been looking for him during the last few weeks. In the end he stayed in the Juhanah system. I lost his track there."  
"Why didn´t you tell us?", Chakotay wanted to know, "We could have helped you for sure."  
"You would have visited my family and..."  
"Oh, don´t worry, we did that without your consent," Kathryn interrupted.  
"What... What did they say?"  
Kathryn immediately understood why Janey was suddenly worried. "What else are you hiding from us?"  
"Why do you think that?"  
"What are you hiding from us?", Kathryn repeated gravely and saw Janey breathing out.  
"My family you have visited... So, my mother is not my mother. She's really my daughter", Janey watched the reaction of the senior officers, "And I'm not really a Carean: I'm a seer who is responsible for guarding artifacts. As such, I am immortal and I thought it´s wise to stay near you, because you too have an artifact."  
Janey looked at Kathryn, who was alarmed.  
"Please don´t worry. Carea needs an artifact to exist, but it´s not connected to your life."  
Kathryn raised her head as she heard this. "Why do I learn about this now?"  
"Not even your mother knew, Your Majesty. It wasn´t necessary to involve you and your mother, Queen Riehsa, into this secret."

"Are you a Q?", B´Elanna asked and because Janey had just revealed she was immortal, that guess was possible.

Kathryn wasn´t in the mood for another encounter with this annoying species. When Q showed up in the palace, he announced he wanted to copulate with her and in this moment he realized, she was already five month pregnant with her second child. "Shouldn´t you know that?", Kathryn had asked back then, "If you are so all knowing- what you always claim- then you should have known that, don´t you think?" And Chakotay added, he´d wring Qs neck if he laid a finger on Kathryn or the baby. Q disappeared and was never be seen again since then.  
"No, I´m immortal but I am not a Q", Janey knew what their next question was, "By the way, I don´t know what the artifact of Carea is. As a seer, I'll know... Sometime." Janey decided to continue with her story. "I decided to take advantage of the search for my brother. You would have noticed that I am immortal and sooner or later I had to disappear. I'm sorry I lied to you. To all of you."

Janey was waiting for a reaction. It came as soon as Kathryn took a deep breath. "You lied to us back then when you said Carea would be destroyed..."  
"Ultimately, my lie helped you," Janey replied, "Princess Aeria and her sister might not exist today if I..."  
"How can you...", Kathryn almost exploded in rage. Chakotay reached for her hand soothingly.  
"It´s important...", the doctor said, "...that we find our artifact before someone else does and comes up with stupid thoughts."  
"Yes, I agree," Janey replied, "We immediately have to..."  
"It's better you leave," Kathryn interrupted.  
"But without my help, you can´t find my brother. Sembra and the senator will die." It was clear to them that Janey was bothered by her bad conscience.  
"Leave," Kathryn repeated, "And don´t dare to come back."

After they sent Janey away, they had searched for the artifact. The senatoress of Sembra told them it had to be an object that the queen always carried with her. "Maybe my communicator... Or the pendant you gave me", Kathryn guessed when she searched her quarters.  
"Unlikely," Chakotay replied, "The senator said artifacts were old objects."  
Kathryn now opened a box and her gaze fell on her engagement ring and her wedding ring.  
"They are objects of special importance," she muttered, but she knew the rings were also out of the question. The engagement ring had previously belonged to Chakotay's mother and he gave it to her because he thought it was a good omen that his parents were married until the death of his father.  
"It could also be your medicine bundle," she sat on the bed opposite the integrated wardrobe and she saw that his medicine bundle lay folded up on the top floor.  
"What?", with a puzzled look, he looked at her from the next room and they preferred to search on and it lasted until the evening.  
When they wanted to go to sleep and the children were already in bed, Kathryn and Chakotay crashed in the bathroom. He held her in the arm and Kathryn couldn´t stand: she had to convince herself he had returned safely. He took the last step and pulled her closer to kiss her. His hand caught in her long hair. He wanted to lift her up and put her on the basin of the bathroom, when in the opposite room the baby suddenly began to cry. "No," Kathryn moaned, hiding her face on his neck, "Not now." She was moving from him with a heavy heart. But before she left the bathroom, she winked, "Remember what you wanted to do." When she returned to her bedroom half an hour later, she nestled in his arm and immediately fell asleep.  
And although Chakotay was very tired after turning up the whole home, he found no sleep that night. He lay in bed watching the shadows that the skyline of the capital Berra caused on the wall. Kathryn's head rested on his left shoulder as she had wrapped her arms around his upper body and slept firmly. He thought she needed a little rest. Besides, he wondered who knew about the tense situation today, and he hoped Aeria had escaped of the wrong message. But when she had greeted him today, she had wrapped her arms around his neck and cried. A look into Kathryn's eyes was enough and both of them realized Aeria had at least suspected something.  
Kathryn. He knew exactly how difficult this day was for her. "Kathryn?", he woke her now, whispering, "Kathryn... Are you awake?"  
The rhythm of her breathing changed and he felt her eyelids tickle him gently.  
"No," she mumbled after a while.

"Are you still angry with Janey?"

"Yes."  
He hesitated for a moment. "Are you angry with me for what happened?"  
"No," she replied and he assumed it was true. He noticed how she finally raised her head. "I am very happy you are here with me," she said. "There is no worse idea than I have to raise our children without you. I could never survive without you because..." She didn´t finish her sentence and Chakotay noticed the events of the day brought her up.

He got up. "What are you doing?", Kathryn asked.  
"We're going to have a bite," he said, "Cierra told me you didn´t eat anything today." He reached for her hand. Then he went with her to the door of her bedroom. Kathryn protested because he didn´t allow her to wear her blue morning coat, but he reassured her it was two o'clock in the morning, neither in the palace nor on Voyager someone would see them. And indeed they didn´t encounter any soul. In the Voyager's mess hall, Kathryn sat at a table, while Chakotay went to Neelix's refrigerator and threw a scrutinizing look in it. Finally he took out two mugs and before he sat down, he was still looking for cutlery.  
"What is that?", she asked as he handed her a spoon.  
"Neelix´ homemade ice cream," he replied, opening a mug with a yellow cream, "He bred the maracujas in the Hydroponical Garden." He looked at her questioning gaze and suspected she wanted to say ice cream wasn´t nutritious but she didn´t.  
"Tastes strange," she said, when they shared the ice cream, "How do you know Neelix stores ice cream here?"  
"Have you ever been alone with Neelix on a multi-day mission?"  
"No," she laughed softly.  
"I feel I know everything about Neelix now. Everything."  
She was still laughing and it was good to hear that.  
They even ate the second mug with Neelix's homemade peanut ice cream.  
Across the table, Chakotay reached for her hand. "We have to stop... Flirting in public, I mean," Kathryn said, "Aeria came to me and told me the Senatoress said we would flirt all the time."  
"Maybe we left a lasting impression at her wedding," he guessed. And at the wedding of the ensigns Hickman and Sanders back then. And a few days ago in the hangar. He remembered that several days before, some curious Marian reporters were wandering around them when he hugged her stormily, because this time he had been told hours earlier that his wife was no longer alive.  
"The doctor has also told me," Chakotay added, "He said to me it´s obvious: Our pupils are dilated, our breaths are accelerating and the color of our skin is also changing when we meet. Besides, we quite often touch. And the way you smile at me... But the question is...", he came closer and was only inches away from her, "...Do you want me to stop flirting with you?"  
"No," she shook her head before they were finally kissing. They left the empty ice cream cups at their table and left the mess hall together. "What are you doing?", Kathryn wanted to know as they entered the lift and gave Chakotay the order to take them to Deck 3.

Their quarter was located on Deck 3. Kathryn liked her home on Voyager, even though they only inhabited it while the ship left the planet.  
"Computer, light. 20%", Chakotay said and the dark room lit up minimally. The automatic door to her quarters had hardly closed behind them, when Chakotay pulled her closer and kissed her. He knew the hell she had suffered in the past few hours and he did the same thing a few days ago. Tonight it wasn´t a question of seducing each other. It was all about their feelings. About closeness and longing. About husband and wife. Love. And in this moment, she belonged only him.  
Kathryn answered the kiss without hesitation, while her hands slowly stroked his back. Chakotay took a step back, but only to lift her up and carry her into the bedroom. He heard Kathryn laugh softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Then he put her down on the bed and again kissed her deeply and tenderly. His lips wandered to her neck and finally to the spot under her ear. Kathryn thought he would surely leave some traitorous spots, but she didn´t dare interrupt him. Too delicious was the chill running through her body.  
She held her breath as his hands slid under her clothes. He reached for the waistband of her shorts, took it off and threw it away carelessly. Tonight he didn´t tolerate a single piece of fabric on her body.  
"Love," she murmured, before she took off his shirt. For a second, she thought they were supposed to be in the palace, but he wiped this thought aside with a gentle kiss.  
Suddenly, Chakotay stopped and looked directly into her eyes. "Kathryn?"  
"Yes?", She raised her head until they almost touched each other again.  
"I love you."  
She smiled."I know," her hands were on his shoulders, "I love you, too." Kathryn was eager to kiss him again. Chakotay's hands gently stroked her legs before she seductively wrapped them around his body and pulled him closer. Tonight there was only them. There were neither mysterious artefacts nor planets that were near the end. The universe was about to burst, but they limited it to only two people tonight.

The next morning, Kathryn was awakened by the sun that shone directly into her face. She raised her head tired and realized she was in her bedroom in the palace. Smiling, she clung to her husband and decided to just lie and enjoy his warmth. With her fingertips she slid over his belly muscles. "That tickles," he suddenly noticed and she was surprised he was awake. Chakotay didn´t hesitate a moment and kissed her stormily.  
When they went to breakfast much later, Kathryn smiled at the ease of the day. It was almost as if she was walking on air and Chakotay told her he was doing the same. As she walked past him, she noticed his hand on her waist and she smiled. Theirs feelings were fluttering and they both behaved like newly in love.  
Even the crew noticed when Kathryn and Chakotay went with Aeria to Voyager for breakfast.  
Neelix was pleased to see both of them, but he regretted all the tables in the mess hall were currently occupied. "I'm sorry you have to wait."  
"Never mind, Neelix."  
"I'm a bit disappointed you didn´t take the baby with you..."  
"She's still sleeping," Kathryn said, watching Aeria who ran away with Naomi Wildman to play with her, while she and Chakotay were waiting in front of the kitchen segment. From the corner of her eye Kathryn saw that Tom and B'Elanna also had to wait for a table for breakfast. The artifact of Carea was still an interrogative topic of conversation and B'Elanna suspected it might be the crown, but Kathryn disagreed: The tiara, decorated with small, colorless diamonds, wasn´t old enough to be an artifact.  
Neelix´ clearing up caused a rattling noise. "Captain, let's think about securing my kitchen," while he said that, he rummaged in a drawer. "Apparently, someone last night plundered my self-made ice cream...!" Neelix sounded slightly angry about the secret midnight- snacker.  
Chakotay saw in Kathryn's expression that she felt caught. And she tried not to reveal herself by laughing now.

"Sick bay to captain," suddenly sounded through the communication system and Chakotay tapped his communicator: "Chakotay here. What´s wrong, Doctor?"  
"Captain, you and the queen should come here soon", the doctor sounded excited, "There is an emergency."  
Kathryn and Chakotay looked at each other questioningly and they decided to leave without breakfast. "I'm curious what's going on," Kathryn told her husband when they got into the lift.

The sick bay was dark when they came in. "Doctor, what's the matter?", Chakotay asked. Their eyes took a while to get used to the darkness and the holographic doctor asked them to his office. "It's about the Senator of Sembra Prime," the Doctor's voice sounded desperately. "She took an emergency transport to the sick bay a few minutes ago." He looked at the bed on which the senator was lying, "I'm afraid I can´t help her."  
"What do you mean?" , Kathryn folded her arms across the chest, "Does that mean she will die?"  
"She has two days left."  
Kathryn's stomach tightened. There was only one way to save the senator and her planet. They had to find the artifact.  
"There´s something else", the doctor added, "It´s about the last wish of the senator. She says she wants to die on Sembra."

The doctor informed Kathryn and Chakotay nearly every hour about the status of the senator. It bothered her that she didn´t feel better, but it was exactly what she had predicted.

That the Voyager now traveled to Sembra to fulfill the senator´s last wish caused a strange feeling in Kathryn's stomach. She was also worried because they still hadn´t found the artifact of Carea.  
While they traveled to Sembra, Kathryn read the letters of her mother. Or rather, the woman to whom she should remembered as her mother. Gretchen. Kathryn was probably the only person in the galaxy who had two mothers because of her identities.  
Chakotay had recently given her the PADD. Kathryn dealed with the letters in the ready room of Voyager when she waited for Chakotay: She sat on the couch, Aeria sat opposite her at the floor and painted a picture. Princess Riehsa slept in her quarters. At the window the stars went by at a brisk rate.

"Mommy, when does Janey return?", Aeria asked her mother.

"I don´t think she will come back, honey", Kathryn replied and also read the messages her husband exchanged with Starfleet, although he said she didn´t have to. He described them how she had lost her memory years ago and how he became the captain of the Voyager. She read the reply. Between the lines she noticed the displeasure of Starfleet about this happenings but Chakotay knew how to make a point.  
She reached for the letter from Gretchen, but first she read the text that Chakotay had sent to get in touch with her, the letter was still as an attachment in the file. Kathryn read every word carefully and she felt he had chosen wisely. He wrote to her mother she was fine and how he actually got around to write her a message. He told her who he was. He wrote he first was the Commander of the ship and Kathryn the captain. And when she had lost her memory in a shuttle crash and unfortunately couldn´t remember her former life. Kathryn smiled because every one of his words sent out so much warmness. He wrote Gretchen not to worry: He cared for his wife and two adorable daughters and didn´t forgot to mention Kathryn was an excellent mother from that special moment on when the Doctor put her first baby in her arms. Then he apologized to Gretchen and she please shouldn´t be angry with Kathryn, because if she would have remembered her, she certainly had the idea of leaving her a message.  
Then she read Gretchen´s answer. She had come up to the first passage, mentioned how much Gretchen was relieved she was alive and that Pheobe and Mark had been happy about the news. Then the door to the ready room open in a hiss and Chakotay entered.  
"So, you are dealing with the news from earth", he noted. Of course, he saw she had read the communication between him and the Starfleet as well. He would tell her she shouldn´t worry, after all, Starfleet was very far away. Kathryn had once asked him years ago if he didn´t feel a little lost, because they were on a log journey and she had found a recording of herself in which she said she needed the company of other Starfleet Captains more than ever. But then she realized he did some things differently than she did when she was a Captain and lost her memory.  
"Yes", she nodded and when he sat down beside her, he saw her sad face.  
"What's wrong?"  
She shook her head gently. "Nothing, I... When I read the letter, I once again realized how much you do for me", Kathryn said, "Sometimes I feel like I can never repay all of this."  
"You don´t have to" , Chakotay calmed her, "I couldn´t be happier. " He had everything he needed. "Oh, before I forget: I have no idea what my mother is up to..." , Chakotay now turned to his daughter, who was still sitting opposite them on the glass table and painted, "Aeria, your grandmother wants to know what you want for your birthday." She´d turn three in January.  
"A new doll", the little girl answered immediately and her father was relieved because he had already met princesses who were very different, "... And a kitten."  
Kathryn smiled.  
At this moment, Tom announced via communication system: "Bridge to Captain. I'm sorry if I disturb you, but we have reached Sembra Prime."  
They set out immediately on the way to the bridge and Chakotay watched as Kathryn took Aeria on her arm. On the main screen they saw a planet whose entire surface was covered with ice and snow. "Spooky", Harry noted, who was suddenly startled by an alarm in his console. "Captain, the computer has detected a vessel on our portside rear end", he reported, "It's a Carean fighter." The bridge officers looked at him in astonishment. "The pilot is calling us."  
"On screen", ordered Chakotay and they all were surprised to see Janey.  
"General. Majesty", she greeted them flatly.  
"Janey, what are you doing here?"

"How did you know my brother is back on Sembra?", she answered their question with a question.  
"We didn´t know. We are here to..."  
"Your Majesty, I must inform you I will do everything to protect my brother."  
"She´s activating her weapons!", Harry informed them.  
"Janey, you can´t shoot at us", Aeria said softly, she still sat on her mother´s arm.  
"I'm sorry, Princess" , Janey turned off the visual communication.  
"Red Alert!", Chakotay ordered. He and Kathryn exchanged a worried look when he sat down in the Captains- chair and Kathryn with Aeria next to him.

Fin?


	10. Lost Planet III

Title: Lost Planet III  
Author: Dancing Star  
Pairing: Janeway / Chakotay  
Rating: 12  
Category: AU, Romance  
Content: The End of Sembra Prime is near.  
Notes: Wearing a T-Shirt with a Voyager blueprint recently, and my best friend said to me: "This is the Enterprise on your T- Shirt." She was really proud that she knew what was painted on my shirt. And I was like: "THIS. IS. NOT. THE. ENTERPRISE." :-)

 **Lost Planet III**

Janey's first shot didn´t cause too much damage. "Shields up," Chakotay said.  
"Confirmed," Harry replied. In contrast to Voyager, the firepower of a Carean space- hunter was tiny, but the small yellow space ship was nimble and agile.  
"Shall I load the torpedoes, Captain?", Harry asked.  
"No. We just want to make her non-combatable. We don´t want to destroy her ship."  
"She is now firing at our nacelles," Harry told the bridge crew.  
"Load rear Phaser Banks!"  
"Loaded."  
When the Captain gave the order to fire, the ship was shaken. "What was that?", Tom asked.  
"It has caused a feedback," Harry said, "I don´t know how, but..." He was involved in the construction plan of a Carean space- hunter and he knew that the small space ship never had such a technique to cause a feedback. "She has destroyed the back phaser banks."  
Another push shook the Voyager slightly.  
"Shields at 90%," Harry told them, "She is now attacking us with maneuver Beta 6."  
When Harry said this, Kathryn immediately noticed what had just happened. "Call her," she ordered, when she got up with Aeria on her arm.  
Janey's figure appeared on the main screen.  
"You will immediately stop the attack. This is an order", Kathryn said to her. She saw in the corner of her eye how Chakotay stepped beside her.  
"Don´t get me wrong, Your Majesty. But you don´t have nothing more to say to me", Janey interrupted the communication and Chakotay could see his wife was almost exploding in rage. But there was something else.  
"Captain, I have a suggestion," Harry's fingers scrambled across the surface of his terminal, and on the main screen the blueprint of a Carean space- hunter appeared. "I have dealt with the space hunters and suggested to the technicians to install energy-saving phasers instead of conventional firearms. As far as I know, the exchange has already been made in most of the space hunters...", as he spoke, the aforementioned sections flashed in the blueprint.  
"Come to the point, Harry," Tom sounded very impatient.  
"Every now and then there are problems with the adjustment. This happens when the energy system of the space- hunter is older. The power lines sometimes melt when they are overloaded. And I guess Janey's space-hunter is already older." Janey probably had let the little ship disappear years ago. She must have had enough time to modify the ship so it could cause a phaser rebound.  
"What do we have to do?", Chakotay asked.  
The blueprint disappeared from the main screen and they saw a yellow space ship heading forwards them. They thought Janey would risk a frontal collision, but at the last moment she pulled up the nose of the space ship and swept past them.  
"She knows how to scare us," Kathryn thought.  
"We must try to hit her energy lines with a constantly strong shot..."  
"It will be difficult if our target moves," Tom commented.  
"Try, Harry," Chakotay agreed.  
The young man nodded gratefully, aiming the area where the main energy supplies were located in a Carean space hunter. Their back phaser banks were no longer working, but the front ones were ready to shoot and to their fortune, Janey was right in front of them. Harry fired, he hit, and the bridge crew watched on the main screen how the small, yellow space ship was trying to shake it off. But Harry's plan was almost self-explanatory, and his assumption seemed to be right: Janey's space-hunter was surely already older, because the energies weren´t prepared for such an overload. They sprayed sparks and the space- hunter drew a cloud of fire behind itself.

"She's going to crash," Kathryn said.  
"She is still able to land on Sembra," Samantha announced, who had scanned the ship. The only question was if Janey wanted this, because a strong storm was brewing in the northern hemisphere of the planet. Samantha couldn´t tell if it was a snap, because the sensors changed their values almost every second. Either there was something wrong with the sensors, or the weather was worse than ever.  
They watched on the main screen as Janey actually landed on the planet. "We should send a team to Sembra," Kathryn suggested, "She will lead us directly to her brother and thus also to the artifact."  
"Maybe, but...", he wanted to tell her that the storm, which now covered almost the entire northern hemisphere of Sembra, was alarmingly dangerous, but the doctor gave him a dash. "Doctor to bridge," he said, "Captain, you and the queen should come down here."  
Kathryn looked anxiously at Chakotay, because she had a clue why the doctor called for them.  
"All right, Doctor," Chakotay confirmed, then he turned to the bridge crew, "Red Alert. Tom, you have the bridge."

The sick bay was located on deck five, but first they went past their quarters to take Aeria to Cierra and Millah. They both looked very worried, because they had seen the small, yellow space hunter who had attacked them.  
Then they went to the sick bay. Inside, it was dark and the doctor came to them. "I am sorry. I am afraid the senator will not survive this day."  
When he said that, Kathryn's stomach tightened. "Can we talk to her?"  
"Of course." The doctor led them to the bed on which the senator was resting. The otherwise so beautiful young woman looked pale. "I heard we reached Sembra," she muttered. Every single word was hard for her.  
"Yes," Kathryn nodded, "The doctor informed us of your condition. I wish we had found the artifact and..."  
"No, don´t blame yourself. I was my fault I even lost it, "she tried to get up," Would you do me a last favor? Make sure my husband leaves the planet. He will resist and tell you he can´t leave his people, but..." Her voice failed, but eventually she spoke a little quieter," ...promise me."  
"I will." Kathryn nodded and at that moment the terminal behind the senator's pillow began to shriek. Her body collapsed. The doctor pushed the captain and queen aside to check the values indicated by the terminal. "I'm sorry," he finally said to them, "I will note in the log the Senator's death occurred at 20:01."

Kathryn left the sick bay with a strange feeling. Chakotay waited for her reaction and she decided to hold back until they were in the turbolift. It didn´t help the crew when the queen broke into tears.  
"Computer, stop the lift," Chakotay said and the computer confirmed. Almost at the same time, he pulled his wife to hold her. "I wish I could do something for you," he said, "It's never easy to lose a person close to you."  
Kathryn nodded slightly. She and the senatoress were good friends and she felt hurt she couldn´t do something for her. "I'm pretty angry," Kathryn agreed, "Angry because I didn´t notice during all the years Janey is playing with us." She tried to breathe deeply. "Now that the senator is dead, we don´t have much time. Sembra will stop existing, soon."  
"What are you thinking about?"  
"We need to evacuate Sembra and rescue as many residents as possible," Kathryn's voice was now more composed. "In those circumstances, I´m mad we don´t have a larger ship."  
"A larger ship?", Chakotay asked.  
"There are Starfleet- ships, which take ten times more crew members than our ship does."  
He knew exactly she thought about the Enterprise. The Voyager was nearly 350 meters long and thus unfortunately not the largest ship.  
"This would be more helpful this time."  
Chakotay let the turbolift continue to the bridge.  
"Damage report!", He demanded when he and Kathryn entered the bridge.  
"The damage Janey caused is minimal," Tom informed them, "But we'll have to renew the rear Phaser banks at our next stop on Carea, but B'Elanna says she can fix it."  
"Excellent," Chakotay glanced at the main screen where the strong storm was still raging on the surface of Sembra. Lightning passed through the gray clouds. It was too risky to land the ship for a second time on Sembra, so they stayed in the Orbit. He wondered if he really wanted to send a team to the planet.  
"Keep the Voyager in position, Samantha, and if a ship should leave the planet, I'd like to know."  
"Aye, sir."  
They gathered around Samantha Wildman's console to watch the Voyager enter Sembra's orbit.  
"There's one thing that concerns me," Kathryn suddenly said, "How could Janey follow us from Carea to Sembra without us noticing?"  
"I know how," Chakotay replied, "When I ordered Janey to hide and wait with the kids in a shuttle one month ago, I showed her how to hide tracks with a toron- particle neutralizer."  
"It's also my fault, Captain," Tom said, "I taught her how to fly a spaceship. Some of the maneuvers Janey has shown in the fight today were Starfleet or marquis." He regretted he was so good-natured and gave Janey flight lessons, because there was no big difference in the handling between Voyager and a Carean space- hunter.  
"I guess we all have to blame," Kathryn murmured. The realization that Janey was basically nothing but a spy who had watched them for years to use her knowledge at some point against the crew of Voyager, hurt a lot. She wasn´t only hurt, she was also disappointed and angry at the same time.  
"What are we doing now?", Tom asked, looking worried at the main screen. Sembra's surface was covered by a single storm. It reminded him almost a little of Jupiter, in whose atmosphere a red, circling storm raged since hundreds of years.  
"We send down a team," Chakotay decided. "We have to stop Janey and her brother. This is our duty. And we also have to rescue the residents."  
"You want to evacuate Sembra?", Tom asked, "How many inhabitants does the planet have?"  
"8 billion," Samantha Wildman said, "We will never be able to save everyone."

Samantha feigned feverishly how many people could be evacuated with the Voyager. They weren´t able to fly to Carea and then return to save more people, because the two planets were too far apart.  
While the bridge officers worked out a plan, the doctor prepared for several injuries. "I am a doctor and not an assembly line," the hologram answered, but of course he would help everyone who needed help.  
"He better should focus on his work, not on talking," Kathryn murmured as soon as she had finished the Com with the sick bay.  
Chakotay noticed something was wrong with her and he was asking himself what. He got his answer when she also appeared in the transporter room at the beginning of the mission.  
"I don´t want you to come along," Chakotay told her, "It's dangerous on Sembra."  
"You said we would never separate again," she reminded him. "Besides, can you imagine that I don´t want you on this planet as well?"  
"Kathryn, I..."  
"It's a personal thing."  
"I know you're mad at Janey..."  
"And I don´t want to argue with you," her eyes glittered, "Take me to this planet, and I promise you it was the last time I ask for such a favor."  
"Hard to believe," he replied, "but you can come along."

They were beamed directly in front of the government building of Sembra. Harry was the first who grabbed his tricorder to scan the environment. They were also accompanied by Millah: Cierra had insisted that at least one of them should come along to accompany the queen. Millah, however, swore she´d never accompany the team to the icy surface of Sembra. She had heard that the planet was already a snowy landscape on her last visit, and it was even worse now. Neither Millah nor Kathryn had ever seen such large icicles hanging from the buildings.  
""We should go in," Harry suggested. Although they were wearing thick jackets, they were already freezing.  
"Agreed," Chakotay said.  
When they entered the government building, Harry scanned the environment for life. "Nothing," he said a little disappointed, but then the tricorder in his hand alarmed. "What's going on?", Chakotay wanted to know.  
"I register two life signs in the government building."  
"Janey and her brother," Kathryn was sure they were, because no one else had a reason to stay in the building. The whole team hastened to climb up the iced steps to the huge marble building.  
They followed the tricorder scans, which led them to a heavy marble door. It wasn´t too difficult to open the door and they entered. Kathryn remembered the room: It was the place where the artifact was kept. Obviously, she saw the shape of a young man who was working on a hidden console.  
Harry immediately drew his phaser. "Go away from the console!", he shouted, and the young man raised his hands. As ordered, he took a step back.  
"Take the gun down, Lieutenant," Kathryn said to Harry.  
"What?", he was confused.  
"This is the husband of Senator Alisar," she explained, and the young man seemed relieved. He remembered that Kathryn, Chakotay and their daughter were guests at his and Alisar's wedding, but he hadn´t had much time to talk to them.  
"Luckily you recognized me."  
"What are you doing here?", Harry's question was of course justified.  
"I'm trying to restore the power to the building. There is a bunker in the basement. Unfortunately, the console for the main power supply is up here", he wiped his face with the sleeve of his jacket, "The person who designed this building didn´t work very efficient... "  
"Are people in the bunker?"  
"Yes, about 10 women and children."  
"Harry, help him," Kathryn said and Harry immediately checked the console. Gemeinsam hockten sie vor der and the man squatted in front of the console. "Your Majesty, where is my wife?", he asked, "Did she make it to Carea?"  
"She did," Kathryn confirmed.  
"And where is Alisar?"  
"I'm sorry," she shook her head cautiously, "She´s dead."  
"What?" The young man tried to hide the trembling in his voice, but he didn´t succeed. He had to hold onto the console in front of him, but then he decided to be strong. The tragic was Alisar´s husband didn´t even had a corpse he could burry: The Sembrarians used to dissolve in air two hours after their death.  
"The power supply for the bunker is restored," Harry informed them now, but he was interrupted by another alarm of his tricorder. "There are two more life signs behind this wall," he said.  
"I told everyone to stay in the bunker," Alisar's husband said.  
"Let's find out who this is," Kathryn suggested. She opened the heavy door that led directly to the next room and although she had expected it, she froze for a second when she saw Janey and her brother. Janey's brother was much taller than her former maid, and his figure looked at least twenty years older. Janey was always like a mid-twentieth, her brother's hair was already streaked with gray streaks. In his hands he held a blue glimmering energy ball. The Artifact.  
"Release the artifact!", Kathryn called at them, but instead of obeying, Janey's brother fired at her. He hit the door frame.  
"No! Don´t!", Janey yelled, "We have arranged that we don´t hurt anyone."  
"I can´t leave the artifact here, Janey." They heard the man's words through the dense dust cloud that surrounded them. "I need the artifact."  
"But you promised me!"  
"I can´t!"  
The cloud, which surrounded Kathryn, Chakotay and the team, evaporated and they could still see how the two persons disappeared in the beam of a transporter. At this moment, Kathryn was even more annoyed: Janey had apparently stolen some more technology from them during the years. When Janey and her brother had completely disappeared, Sembra was caught by a quake. Shortly after, they heard a dull groan that seemed to hit the back of the building.  
"What was that?", Chakotay asked, looking at Harry, who was checking his tricorder.  
"Apparently the tide on Sembra has drastically changed when the artefact left," he replied, "We have a flood now. This thunder is the ocean, which crashes against the back of the building."  
"The ocean?", the husband of Senator Alisar repeated, "The sea is about 50 kilometers away from the capital."  
"It WAS 50 Kilometers away…" While Harry was talking, Kathryn and Millah ran to a window and looked out. Kathryn swallowed hard when she watched as the water of the ocean flowed slowly around the building and retreated shortly thereafter.  
"Your Majesty, you know what that means, right?", Millah asked uncertainly.  
"Yes," Kathryn nodded.  
Chakotay also found that their situation was quite disturbing. He stood a little out of the group and he didn´t want them to notice how alarmed he was. So he took advantage of the moment to contact with the ship, which was still in Sembra's orbit.  
"Chakotay to Voyager," he activated his communicator, "Beam us up. We are in the government building right now, but it won´t last long."  
Tom replied: "There's a problem, Captain. We can´t find your signals", he said, "The storm prevents that. Every time we try to capture you, an electrostatic charge is generated in the atmosphere and we lose your signal."  
"This comes at an unfavorable time..."  
"I know...", Tom replied, "B'Elanna is working on it. She calibrates the target detection scanner but it will take a while."  
„Wie lange?" "How long?"  
"About an hour," Tom paused, "Hold on. We'll get you out there in time..." As soon as Tom had said this, a wave hit the building. "There's something else..."  
"What?"  
"Janey's ship. We couldn´t stop it. It was as if it had activated a warp drive as soon as it left the planet."  
"Yes, I can imagine."  
Kathryn had heard the conversation between Chakotay and Tom. Worried, she put a hand on his shoulder so he half turned to her. They hoped Tom would be right.

The weather on Sembra Prime was a disaster. The snowstorm had disappeared within a few seconds and had made way for a tidal wave that still crashed incessantly against the back wall of the building. Normally there was an ocean on Sembra, but it was far from the government capital. Kathryn guessed not only the tides but also the gravity on the planet had changed so much that the ocean had moved to another place. The temperature improved a little, but Kathryn still froze horribly. The cold crawled through her whole body, and she tightened the blanket Millah had given her. Millah handed her a water bottle. Kathryn noticed the worried face expression of her maid. "What's the matter?", she asked.  
"Your Majesty, I want you to know that Cierra and I will always be true. No matter what happens."  
"I know, Millah," Kathryn smiled, "Thank you."  
"We're not spies like Janey," Millah added.  
"This is exactly what a real spy would say," Kathryn replied, and she saw how shocked the young woman now looked. "That was a joke," she whispered.  
Millah nodded, though she hadn´t considered it a joke.  
"And because I know you're not a spy and would never lie to me... You could tell me what happened on Caro," Kathryn suggested.  
"No," Millah said, and she noticed that she was blushing.  
Careas moons were very different: Caro had a dense atmosphere, was covered by a beautiful forest landscape and was a popular excursion destination, while the smaller moon Cana was an ice desert without any life.  
Finally, Millah gave up. If she didn´t tell the Queen what had happened on Caro, soon, she would probably ask for the rest of her life. "All right, I'll tell you what happened on Caro," said Millah, and sat down beside her. "After you sent me there and I arrived at the house, I found the captain and the commander. The two were arguing. Commander Chakotay said to Captain Janeway he envies you and the General because you started a family. It was what he always wanted..."  
"And how did the captain react?", Kathryn asked.  
"I don´t know," Millah confessed, "Fortunately, the two didn´t notice I was in the house and I decided to take advantage of that and left."  
"I'm sorry I sent you there," Kathryn told her, "I had no idea they were arguing."  
"Oh no. That's fine. You know, I had noticed I had forgotten my key there in all my haste, and because I feared the two would find it, I went back to the house two hours later. I only found the clothes of the two scattered on the floor." Millah nodded and Kathryn could also imagine what that meant.  
A clinking sound made them getting up. "What was that?", Kathryn asked. She and Millah hurried to the door that separated them from the next room, and they backed away when a splash of water spilled under the door. "We have a problem," Kathryn said.  
"The building won´t make it any longer," Harry said, "If we won´t drown, we have to get out of here."  
"Agreed," Chakotay said. They left the room and went down the wide corridor leading to the main entrance.  
"Wait a moment," Senator Alisar's husband cried, "What about the people in the bunker?"  
"We'll get them out as soon as we can," Harry promised.  
"I have to check if..."  
The massive entrance door burst under the pressure of the water and a powerful wave streamed in. The ice cold water stood right up to their ankles.  
"I'm afraid this is not a way out," Harry said, and he followed the rest of the team, which had already rushed up the wide marble staircase leading to the next floor.  
"I have to go!", the man cried and Harry tried to stop him, but he could only watch as he jumped fearlessly into the waters.  
"Lieutenant!", Chakotay shouted, and Harry hurried up the stairs. They opened the locked door to the roof terrace with the phaser and stepped out. Outside, the snow had turned into rain. At that moment, the weather on Sembra changed again, because the rain suddenly didn´t fall to the ground but evaporated in the air. Kathryn had read that there was a planet called Venus, on which the sulfuric acid didn´t strike on the ground either. No life was possible in the hostile atmosphere of Venus and Sembra was now transformed into such a place. The buildings on the other side of the city crumbled and a deep ditch opened, which was immediately flooded by water.  
"Chakotay to Voyager!", The general once again tapped his communicator, "Now would be a good time to get us out of here!"

Although the atmosphere had been condensed, the storms on Sembra had disappeared and the crew managed to beam the team to the ship.  
Kathryn saw in the corner of her eye as Millah tugged at the collar of her dress. "Tom, thank you for the rescue," Chakotay said via Com. "Never mind, Captain. I'll make it to B'Elanna."  
They immediately noticed something seemed to be wrong, and the ensign in the transporter room handed them the images of Sembra on a small screen. The bridge crew also saw these pictures. Kathryn had never been a witness to how a planet seemed to break apart. The procedure only lasted a few minutes and in the end, two glowing halves of Sembra drifted in space.  
"How many people could been saved?", Kathryn asked and she noticed Tom hesitating to answer her.  
"383 people, Your Majesty."  
"What about the people from the bunker of the government building?"  
"We were able to rescue everyone. They are in cargo bay Two."  
Kathryn thanked for the information and before she and Chakotay went to the bridge, they took a detour to cargo bay Two. There, they talked to some people who were relieved to escape death. They met women and children who were crying and people, looking for their relatives and friends. They only could tell them they would find a new home on Carea or they could travel from there to other planets if they wanted.  
Kathryn and Chakotay were about to leave when a small figure caught her attention. The figure lay, wrapped in blankets, on a transport box and stretched out the small arms and legs. The baby was crying and it was wrapped in a blanket with the sealing of the regent family of Sembra Prime. Kathryn's heart melted when she took the little infant on her arm. She now understood why it was so important to the husband of Senator Alisar to get back into the bunker. "I didn´t know the senator already has a child," Chakotay said to his wife, because a few weeks ago, they were guests at the wedding.  
She patted the baby's back and it stopped crying. "I'm sure we'll find a good home for the baby."

Being back on Carea was a blessing, even if a sour taste remained, it was perhaps only a matter of time until Janey's brother also wanted to steal their artifact.  
On an evening two days after their return Kathryn put her baby on the couch to change diapers. Riehsa was crying when her mother brought a new diaper and recycled the old one. "Aeria, stay with your sister," Kathryn said to her older daughter and Aeria sat next to Riehsa on the couch to distract her with a stuffed animal. But Riehsa was only crying more and kicking excitedly with her arms and legs. Kathryn hastened to recycle the diaper and then immediately returned to the couch. "Don´t cry, honey," Kathryn said to Riehsa and pressed a kiss on the baby's forehead. Kathryn saw, that Riehsa´s hair was about to become darker and she was a bit disappointed that her youngest daughter also looked much more like her father. When she put socks on Riehsa, she sang her a song and Aeria watched as the baby actually calmed down. Riehsa was now old enough to react to acoustic stimuli and the voices of her parents. Kathryn saw in her daughter's eyes that she was a little offended because she had not managed to soothe the baby. "Riehsa has recognized my voice," Kathryn guessed to comfort Aeria, "This is quite normal. Babies recognize their mother's voice because they are in her womb for nine months." As she spoke, she held Riehsa in her arm. Riehsa immediately snuggled at her mother's neck. Kathryn realized how much she enjoyed the time with her baby and Aeria. Then she was thinking of the baby of the Senator. And Sembra Prime, which ruins still floated in space. Suddenly Kathryn felt sad.  
"Was I in your tummy, too, Mommy?", asked Aeria now.  
"Yes, honey."  
Aerias eyes brightened and she hugged her mother and planted a kiss on her cheek. Then she ran to her room. A knock at the door aroused Kathryn's attention and she let the late visit in. "Good evening," she said to Samantha and Naomi Wildman, when they entered. Naomi went with her bag immediately to Aerias room. Because her mother was also invited to Harry's bachelor party, Naomi stayed with her friend today.  
"You look great, Your Majesty," Samantha said to Kathryn.  
"Thank you, you also."  
Harry had invited his friends to spend the last night of freedom (as he called it) in a holo projection of Las Vegas. Because they wanted to visit a casino, the evening required an elegant dress code and Kathryn had chosen a black, strapless dress. Samantha was wearing a light blue dress, which matched her blonde hair.  
Kathryn and Samantha goodbye to Aeria and Naomi, both were sitting on the bed in Aerias room and combed the purple hair of a Mermaid doll. In Riehsas room they met B'Elanna who just handed Miral to Cierra. Riehsa on Kathryn's arm was now asleep and she put the baby in its cradle.  
They left some instructions for Cierra and Millah and then made their way to Voyager. "Your husbands don´t join us?", Samantha asked.  
"We´ll meet on Voyager," B'Elanna replied, "They are already there for an hour."  
In fact, the program was already activated when the three women entered the holodeck and they were now directly in the entrance hall of a hotel. The floor was covered with bright, Italian marble and on a table was a magnificent bouquet. A fantastic chandeliers hung from the ceiling. "Impressive," Kathryn noted.  
"Have you ever been to Las Vegas?" Samantha asked her as they walked down the stairs.  
"No, never." Las Vegas was still a glittering metropolis in the Nevada desert, and there were still dazzling casinos and countless wedding chapels. In 2203, the area was however hit by an earthquake and the area that was known as Southern California until then, broke away from the mainland and sank into the sea. Since then, the city of Las Vegas had a beach on the Pacific Ocean and there was a road that led out of the city into the sea.  
Meanwhile, Tom and Chakotay waited for them at the foot of the stairs. "Shouldn´t we call our wives?", the commander asked.  
"No. They are only five minutes late, "Chakotay reassured him, "Maybe they´re not done yet. If you are searching for something in my wife´s closet, then you need the scanner of the Voyager except for you prefer complaining you don´t have enough clothes in the end."

Chakotay and Tom laughed about that joke.

"You always have to wait for beautiful women."

Then they saw B´Elanna, Kathryn and Samantha coming down the stairs. Kathryn reached out her hand and Chakotay took it to help her. "How sweet of you", she said.

They walked along the long, tree-marble columns corridor.  
"I know you´re not in high spirits for a party", Chakotay said quietly to Kathryn.  
"Yes," she nodded, "That's right."  
"Come on," he grabbed her hand and pulled her with him to disappear between the columns.  
B'Elanna turned around to them and wondered where they were. Then she followed the others, shrugging.  
"Where are we going?", asked Kathryn, when they walked through a dark hall. Finally, Chakotay opened a door and she understood why the hotel's interior was dark: They stood on a small balcony in front of a large pond and a lighted fountain in the middle showed a spectacular show. Of course, the venerable Bellagio looked better in the background.  
"I need to show you something," Chakotay said suddenly, "Harry and I have found the artifact of Carea." He saw that her eyes were bright and she looked very relieved at once.  
"What is it?"

He searched in his left jacket pocket for it and showed it to her. An orange ribbon with three nodes was in his hand.

"The Royal band of Carea", she realized, "To be honest, I suspected that, but..."  
"Oh, don´t worry. This is only a replica. The real Royal band of Carea is hidden in a safe place in the palace since 50 years."  
Kathryn didn´t understand a word.  
"Harry and I have searched for the artifact. We have scanned the entire palace. We found it in a place where we never expected", he saw how excited she was, "The real band of Carea is located in the mausoleum where the other crowned heads of Carea found their final rest. In the sarcophagus in which your grandfather, King Aris, is buried, to be exact. The sarcophagus was sealed 50 years ago, therefore, Harry and I assume your grandfather knew the true meaning of the band and exchanged it against our replica before his death."  
"That means I'm going to bequeath my daughter a worthless piece of fabric someday…"  
"And the knowing where the real band is if she should ever need", he smiled at her, then he suggested to go back inside. Kathryn nodded in agreement and hand in hand they walked down the hall of the casino. Their friends waited outside the entrance to the gambling area. Meanwhile, also Neelix and Harry had joined them and they decided to enter.  
The doctor was waiting for them at a gaming table, and as soon as they were seated, he gave them cards.  
"We're playing Texas Hold'em," the doctor announced, who wore the uniform of a dealer. The playing cards sailed really professional on the table. "Doctor, I wonder how long you have been practicing for this," Tom said and B'Elanna stifled her laughter, while the hologram rolled his eyes. A waitress came to their table and asked what they wanted to drink. They played the first round and Kathryn soon gave up because her cards were pretty bad. She looked at Chakotay cards, who was sitting next to her.  
In the second round Harry's communicator was noticeable. His fiancee called and asked for a personal talk, so he walked away from the table. "Should we wait for you?", Neelix asked but they only saw how Harry walked away in a hurry.  
They played on. "You lose, my darling," Tom said to B'Elanna and smiled.  
"I don´t think so," she sounded sure, "I'm in." She threw four red chips into the middle of the table.  
"So, I´m out", Neelix gave up. And because it was now Chakotays turn, he also threw a lot of chips in the middle of the table.  
"You want to start a fight?", Tom asked his wife.  
"No, I don´t want to", after Samantha had set, B'Elanna put her cards on the table. Tom was amazed when he saw a full house. "So I've won this round."  
Chakotay was disappointed and Kathryn patted comforting his upper arm while B'Elanna reached for her chips.  
"The captain is also mad at you," Tom said to his wife now.  
"No, please don´t involve me in this dispute," Chakotay said. The waitress brought them their drinks.  
They started the next round, while Kathryn sorted her cards she realized how much time had passed: "Harry is long gone," she said. At that moment, Harry reappeared at the table. They saw his shocked face. "What´s wrong, Harry?", Tom sounded worried.  
"Everything´s fine. I'd better go home. Have a nice evening." Harry left, leaving his bewildered friends back at the poker table. They didn´t get a response, what had happened, but that wasn´t necessary.

Fin?


	11. Lost Planet IV

Title: Lost Planet IV  
Author: Dancing Star  
Pairing: Janeway/ Chakotay  
Rating: 12  
Category: AU, Romance  
Content: The artefact of Carea also gets lost…  
Notes: Whenever there is a dramatic scene in the storyline between our two favorite characters, "Across the Stars" from Star Wars Episode II sneaks in as a background melody. Stroke? :-)

 **Lost Planet IV**

Cierra was astonished when the door to the royal family´s home opened and the queen came in. "Majesty," she rose from the couch on which she had been sitting. She noticed that the Queen took off her shoes and held them in her hands.  
"Is everything all right?", Cierra asked anxiously, "To be honest, I didn´t expect you to come home until tomorrow morning." She saw that the General accompanied his wife.  
"There was a small incident," Kathryn replied while she sat down on the couch. After Harry's fiancée had announced the break off and Harry had left the Holodeck, they knew there would be no wedding. Tom had also said he´d talk to Harry when he got up from the game table. That was the moment when the evening had lost its lightness. Kathryn was sorry for Harry. Being left by a person you loved was not easy.  
"Are the children already in bed?", Kathryn asked and Cierra nodded: "Already for an hour."  
"Who send the flowers, Cierra?", Chakotay wanted to know now while he gave Kathryn a glass of water. He pointed to the huge, colorful bouquet, which stood in a vase on the table.  
"Two hours ago a carrier was here," Cierra said, "He said the flowers were for you, Your Majesty."  
As she spoke, Kathryn's brow wrinkled. She asked her husband if the flowers were from him, but he shook his head. "Perhaps the queen has a secret admirer," Cierra said for fun, "He has asked me all sorts of questions about you."  
"What exactly did he want to know?"  
"For example, where you are and when you will be back..."  
Kathryn and Chakotay were alarmed: she hurriedly stood up from the couch while he ran into the room next door and took his tricorder. He scanned the room. "I track traces of a male person," he said. The tricorder captured a trail of steps leading from the front door to the table and then almost through the whole room. It looked as if the person had been looking for something.  
"How did the man look like?", Kathryn saw a small envelope between the colorful flowers. She pulled it out and unfolded it.  
"He was pretty tall. And he had gray hair. "  
"Janey and her brother were here," she combined then glanced at the letter that was stuck in the envelope and paled in fright.  
" _You look very beautiful in your black dress_ ," was written there.  
She handed the letter to Chakotay, her hands trembled. "How does he know...?", he asked, turning to Cierra. "Did he say anything else?"  
"No," Cierra shook her head. "He just wanted to know where the queen was, and when she would come back."  
"Did you answer him?"  
"Of course not!"  
Kathryn was dizzy. She had to sit down for a moment. "Do you think he followed us to the Voyager and then to the Holodeck?", she asked, "Did he hear our conversation about the artifact?"  
"You've found the artifact?", Cierra's voice sounded excited.  
"No," Chakotay replied and Kathryn was surprised he was lying. Only Harry knew where the real artifact was.  
At that moment, the door knocked and Cierra let the visit in. While she walked to the door, she didn´t notice how Kathryn and Chakotay exchanged a worried look. Cierra let B'Elanna, Samantha, Neelix and the doctor in. Kathryn took advantage of the moment and sneaked away unobserved. She needed a second.  
"Where is Tom?", Chakotay wanted to know from the late visit when they sat down on the couch.  
"He's talking to Harry," B'Elanna replied, "He said he would report in case Harry wouldn´t be fine..."  
"Wait a moment," Cierra suddenly sounded alarmed, "Where is the queen?"  
"She needed a little fresh air."  
"And you're leaving her alone now?", Cierra asked, horrified.  
Kathryn hurriedly ran across a terrace which clasped the entire building. It was Full Moon and the two moons Caro and Cana shone in the sky. They were so bright that the night was almost a day and the stars had no chance to show their beautiful glitter.  
"Kathryn," a voice whispered and Kathryn slowed her steps. A little worried, she turned around, but she couldn´t see anyone. So she ran on, but she heard another sound, which was not her own steps on the marble floor.  
"Kathryn," the voice whispered again, and Kathryn began to run faster. When she turned a corner, she collided with Tom Paris. "Is everything all right?", he asked her and immediately saw in her face that something was wrong. "You look like you've seen a ghost."  
"That was you, Am I right?", she asked back instead, and she was pretty angry.  
"What do you mean?"  
Kathryn turned around and Tom, too, stretched his neck, but they couldn´t see somebody. She knew very well that Tom would not play such a childish prank to her and he also came out of the opposite direction: He could never be the sinister whisper.  
"I thought I heard something...", Kathryn said, turning around again, "I thought someone had called my name."  
"Well, it wasn´t me."  
"Yes, true," Kathryn knew, of course, that he was right. Together they set out for the glass door, which led into the living room of the royal family´s home. "Look, who I found," Kathryn announced and everybody on the couch got up. They looked disappointed when it was Tom.  
"How is Harry?"  
"To be honest, I don´t know," Tom watched as everyone looked at him intently, "I followed Harry to his apartment. There, I knocked, nobody opened. I have no idea where Harry is... At least I can tell you where he is not: He´s not at home and on board of the ship."

"What about Mr. Kim's girlfriend?", Neelix asked.  
"Leila was not in the apartment either," Tom replied.  
B'Elanna now discovered the little greeting card lying on the glass table. She didn´t think about it and read the card. "What is that?", she asked.  
"That's why I didn´t want the queen to walk in the garden by herself," Cierra grumbled.  
"The card was in the bouquet. Cierra says the carrier looked like Janey's brother", Kathryn replied.  
"That means, they're here," Neelix concluded and they immediately realized why. "They are looking for our artifact."  
"The General said, he found it," Cierra recalled now and everyone looked at Chakotay. Inwardly, he thanked Cierra for revealing the secret.  
"What is the artifact?", the doctor asked.  
"The fewer people know, the better," Kathryn replied, and Chakotay was relieved. "It was not our intention to hide something from you, but I would prefer none of you to involve into this matter."  
"We understand, of course," Tom replied, but the doctor looked at the commander with a shocked glance.  
"I don´t like that. I don´t like that at all...", the doctor muttered.  
"I know," Kathryn agreed, "Me neither."

Kathryn sat at her laptop the next morning and was working as Samantha Wildman came to pick up her daughter. Harry's bachelor party ended prematurely last night, but they didn´t want to wake their children unnecessarily. Kathryn found it was a pity that Harry's wedding would not take place. She was very happy for him when she heard about his fiance (and, besides, she had a very beautiful, fire-red ball-dress, the skirt of it was covered with tulle-tulled roses).  
"Are the children already awake?", Samantha asked when she sat down opposite Kathryn.  
"Naomi and Aeria have been awake since sunrise," Kathryn replied. "They have convinced Millah to take them to the horses... If you ask me, I won´t mind if they´re away for a while. Chakotay and I would like to visit Harry later."  
"Do you mind if I come with you?"  
"No."  
Almost half an hour later they reached the building in which Harry's apartment was located. "Harry?", Chakotay knocked at the door and listened, but there was no sound on the other side. Samantha and Kathryn were worried. Riehsa on Kathryn's arm cried softly.  
"Harry, are you there?"

No answer.  
"Leave me alone," suddenly a voice said and Chakotay stepped back when Tom and B'Elanna appeared. They knew from Cierra, where they were and after they had picked up their daughter, they also set off for Harry's apartment.  
Tom knocked impatiently against the door. "Harry, open!"  
"It certainly does not help him if you break down his door," B'Elanna said.  
"Go away!", A voice suddenly called on the other side of the door and at first his friends seemed to be relieved. "Harry, we just want to talk to you..."  
"I don´t want to talk to you."  
They looked at each other helplessly. "All right," Tom finally said, "But it would be nice if you would report to one of us if you were up to company."  
They didn´t receive an answer from the other side of the door. Still very worried, they left the building where Harry's apartment was located.

After Harry didn´t want to talk to them in person, they returned to the palace disappointed. The high-rise building, where Harry's apartment was, was a chic skyscraper at the other end of the city. Kathryn and Chakotay, Tom and B'Elanna and Samantha took a walk through the busy capital of Berra.  
"I'm still amazed at how the inhabitants of your planet are reacting to you, my queen," Chakotay said softly to Kathryn when they walked through the city center. It took about half an hour and a detour through the central park when they reached the palace.  
They walked on the marble staircase to the main entrance. "I think it´s not right," Tom said, "Because we left Harry to himself and..."  
He was interrupted by a very loud noise, which sounded like an explosion. A cloud of dark smoke rose from the building behind them. "That was in the palace, right?", Samantha asked curiously.  
"Princess Aeria is still there!", Kathryn was suddenly caught by a strange feeling, which she identified as fear in retrospect. With the words "Hold her" she handed her baby to B'Elanna and ran with Tom, Chakotay and Samantha as fast as she could into the palace. They walked through a corridor, supported by some guards. Only now they saw that the explosion hadn´t occurred directly in the palace, but in a small building in the garden.  
Kathryn immediately knew what it was. "The Mausoleum!"

And she also knew there weren´t only the remains of her ancestors but also the real artifact of Carea.

Whoever was responsible for the explosion in the mausoleum had proceeded quickly and precisely: The explosive set was just so heavily dosed that the small building didn´t collapse, but most of the graves were destroyed or at least severely damaged. Worst of all the Sarcophagus of King Aris, Kathryn's grandfather. It was just a heap of marble and sandstone. The lid of the sarcophagus usually represented a figure with a crown and an orb, but it was only a rubble heap. Kathryn saw a piece of bone between the stones. "We searched the rubble," Tom reported, "No trace of the royal band." He looked worried at his colleagues. After the mausoleum exploded, Kathryn had to explain to the rest of the senior officers why this was such a problem. Kathryn had an idea how Janey and her brother had operated: They had a space ship, which had transporter technology. They probably stole the artifact from the mausoleum after the sarcophagus had exploded. They could not have picked it out before the explosion, because the sarcophagus didn´t pass through any scanners for some reason.

"I wonder where Janey knew where the artifact was," Kathryn muttered, "No one knew about it except you, me and Harry."

This was exactly their catchword: Tom and Chakotay left behind a very perplexed Kathryn and even more confused bridge officers. They hurried to leave the rubble field.

"What's wrong with the two?", B'Elanna asked when she saw them leaving.

Chakotay and Tom went to Harry's apartment. "Harry, open!", Tom shouted, knocking energetically on his door. No reaction. Tom reached for his tricorder and scanned the door lock. "It's sealed with a 16-digit code," he said, "It will take at least an hour until the tricorder has tried all the possible combinations."

"We don´t have that much time."

"Agree," Tom confirmed. He and Chakotay stepped back, then reached for their phasers and shot the door lock with a constant energy beam until it gave up. The door opened.

"Harry, are you here?", Tom shouted during entering, "If so, I just destroyed your door." While he spoke, he checked the part of the apartment that was a kitchen.

Chakotay checked at the bedroom and the bathroom, whose doors were open. "Nothing," he said finally, when he returned to Tom, who just entered the little balcony of the apartment. Curious as he was, he then glanced at the fridge in the kitchen. He realized an unpleasant smell.

"The few foodstuffs he has are already decomposed," he informed the captain.

For a fraction of a second, Chakotay seemed to have to think. "We spoke to Harry this morning," he remembered, "That means... We at least heard his voice." He scanned the apartment and was amazed.

"What?", Tom asked when he noticed Chakotay's expression.

"My tricorder receives the same data as yesterday evening, when Cierra reported from a suspect flower messenger," he snapped the tricorder, "Seems like Janey's brother is also responsible for Harry's disappearance." The problem was he couldn´t figure out why.

The search for Harry and his girlfriend was published the same day as the search for Janey and her brother. Chakotay wasn´t able to sleep in that night and because he didn´t want to wake his wife, he sat behind the laptop in the living room. He watched the latest news, but the intelligence service unfortunately couldn´t tell something. He was disappointed. At that moment, he noticed a shadow that entered the living area.

"You can´t sleep, do you?", Kathryn asked.

"No," he confirmed, "Did I wake you up?"

She shook her head then stepped behind him, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck. She noticed what data he'd retrieved on the laptop.

"Still no news?"

"Unfortunately." He turned around and pulled her into his lap. "I keep wondering where Janey and her brother knew Harry was one of the few people who knew about the artifact."

"There is an answer," Kathryn said, "But you won´t like it. I don´t like it either."

The answer was that Janey or her brother had heard the conversation between them on the Holodeck on the Bellagio terrace. But how had they entered the Voyager? There was certainly an answer, too, because the ship had become Janey's home. At the same time it meant Janey was now so tech-savvy she could get access to every place she wanted. Perhaps she had simply followed them, in the days after her return to Carea. This explained some mysterious incidents, such as the flower messenger who had asked Cierra about the queen. However, this didn´t explain the eerie whisper Kathryn had heard when she walked alone through the garden.

"Yes," he agreed little enthusiastically, "It is probable they have been watching us since our return. They knew it was only a matter of time until someone started looking for the artifact. Maybe they kidnapped Harry just because they noticed he was involved in the search." Chakotay sighed. "The positive thing is that our planet at least won´t expect the same fate as Sembra after the artifact was stolen. On the other hand... Have you ever considered Janey could have lied because of the artifact? Because if the artifact is as unimportant as Janey claims, why did your grandfather hide it so well?"

She had to admit she didn´t know the answer.

"We need to think about a plan to free Harry and get the Royal Band back." That sounded at least like a very good plan.

"We don´t even know where Janey is."

"Maybe we can arrange Janey to come to us."

Kathryn immediately knew what he meant: "But we have nothing that could interest her," she said.

"Are you sure?" Chakotay wanted to answer her, but at that moment they were both disturbed by a stormy knock on their door. "I'm going," Chakotay said to her.

The knocking seemed to be quite urgent, and when he openend the door, it was B'Elanna. "I'm sorry if I woke you...", she said, not even letting him speak. Without ever having been invited, she crossed the dark living room," ...But I only noticed by chance, when I woke up to feed the baby."

Chakotay and Kathryn exchanged a puzzled look.

B'Elanna pulled the curtains aside so the palace garden came to light. The full moon had just passed, but it was still bright enough to see the thick snow cover that had spread.

Kathryn's heart beat faster. There was no snow on Carea, because the planet was much too warm for it. Then she remembered how it had started on Sembra.

"We need to get our artifact back as soon as possible."

"This is the Voyager," said Tom, when he stood on the bridge of the Voyager and send a message, "You were right, Your Majesty. The Royal Band of Carea, stolen from the grave of your grandfather, was a fake. The queen of Sacala had the real bond. We are now on the way back to Carea." Tom even showed the Royal Band of Carea -the fake one- and then ended the recording. He breathed out relieved.

"I must admit, it was very credible, Commander," Kathryn said to him. She and Chakotay were a little out of the way to avoid being caught by the recording. The Voyager was in the orbit of Sacala and so the news seemed particularly credible, they had even left Millah in the palace, so someone at home would receive the news.

"How long do we stay in Orbit of Sacala?", Samantha asked.

"I think you can slowly fly to Carea," Chakotay said, "But remember, we're not in a hurry."

"Yes, sir."

Harry's head ached when he woke up and his eyes needed a moment to get used to the darkness. The last thing he remembered was he had returned to his apartment after his fiancée broke up with him. He had entered his apartment when someone knocked him from the back with a heavy object on his head, and he had become unconscious. How long was he here? And where exactly was he?

"Harry...", a worried voice said and he recognized her immediately.

"Leila?", he straightened up and noticed he was sitting on a firm ground, "Where am I?", he grabbed her by the arms, "And why are you here?"

"Yes, this is the space ship of my brother."

"What?"

"I am so sorry. I have to tell you something, I'm afraid. "

"I hope you will understand someday..."

It dawned on him what she wanted to tell. "Are you a form changer like Janey?"

She nodded cautiously. "Yes, she is my sister," Leila saw him sink into himself, "Please believe me, it was not my intention to lie you... Well, first, but then... Then I noticed you are a good person."

The pretty blond woman wanted to continue, but then the door opened to the room where Harry was trapped. A man with gray hair came in and Janey followed him.

"You are one of the few people who know where the artifact of Carea is!", he shouted and when he grabbed Harry's dark hair, Leila screamed in horror, "We just caught a transmission from Voyager: They say that Artifact is a fake!" The gray-haired man, who was Janey's and Leila's brother, held Carea's band in his hands, crushing it tightly. "Where is the real artifact?!"

"I don´t know." When Janey's brother let him go, Leila crawled to Harry on all fours and hugged him tightly. She hadn´t intended to be involved in this.

She didn´t want that. And yet she and Harry were involved more than they liked.

The Voyager and the small Carean space hunter, which had been transformed to a battleshipby Janey, met an hour later. Leila hurried to the area of the Carean space hunter which was the bridge. She didn´t take long, because a space hunter was barely bigger than a starfleet shuttle. She entered the bridge the moment her brother fired at the Voyager. "What are you doing?!", she asked.

"First shot and then talk." Now Janey's brother contacted the bridge crew: "I've got your lieutenant Harry Kim. If you want to see him alive, give me the artifact of Carea."

"I think I don´t have to tell you we won´t cooperate with thieves," Kathryn replied. She hoped he couldn´t see her bluff. "Harry would rather die than give the artifact and carea to his fate." She saw his eyes flashing furiously.

"Janey," he turned to his younger sister, "load the phaser." They ended communicating with Voyager. And apparently it was serious for the crew of the starfleet ship, because the small Carean space ship was immediately hit by a phaser.

Leyla clung to Janey's copilot seat and saw the Voyager glide over them.

"Better, you say good-bye to your boyfriend," her brother said to her.

"This is exactly why I wanted to talk to you... Let him go. He can´t help us", Leila said to her brother, but as he didn´t react, she turned to Janey, "Sister, please."

Again, their ship was hit by a phaser and when Janey didn´t respond, Leila left the bridge and went to the area where Harry was kept.

"What are you up to?", He dully asked when she helped him get up.

"I´m very sorry I lied to you. You shall know I love you very much." She put his arm around her shoulders. They walked slowly to a terminal. "Can you get in touch with Voyager?", Leila asked.

"That should be possible," Harry's fingers scuttled across the terminal, "We can beam to the ship..."

"Excellent…"

"Wait," Harry said, holding her arms gently, "Where is the artifact? You know as well as I do that the Voyager´s message is just a trick."

She nodded cautiously. Then she reached into the pocket of her waistcoat. "I stole it from my brother", a small smile flashed across her face, "On the evening you introduced me to the queen, she said to me that if you have a brain, you should use it for the good."

"Agree."

In the next moment they were captured by Voyager's transporter beam.

At the last moment, as it seemed to them, the officer who was currently occupying Voyager's defense station had also studied the blueprints of the Carean space hunters: He hit the small space ship at a critical point. Kathryn looked horrified when the little Carean space hunter exploded. "Is Harry on board?", Tom asked worried, who had almost jumped from the commander's chair. Kathryn saw how shocked he was.

"Yes," Ayala confirmed. "He and his fiancée were just being sent to Transporter Room One."

"Janey and her brother?"

"Negative, majesty," Ayala's voice was low, "I'm sorry."

Chakotay looked as Kathryn nodded silently. Of course Janey was a traitor, but she was a friend once. "What about the artifact?"

Ayala retrieved the data from his station. "I don´t know," he admitted, "I have no idea if the artifact is here as well."

"We'll have to ask Harry," said Tom, who had calmed down. "Ensign Wildman, set a course home," Chakotay commanded and Samantha confirmed. They set off for Carea.

The presence of the artifact on Carea was enough to immediately normalize the weather: The snow disappeared and Carea was again a warm green world.

Kathryn walked with Aeria through the garden so the little princess could pick a bouquet of flowers when Chakotay came to meet them. "I actually expected you to find you in the throne room," he said to her when she armlinked with him.

Her gaze wandered over the pond in which a large island of water lilies swam. "If I didn´t know better, you'd like to say I work too much." She smiled.

"No. I would never interfere in the business of my wife, the Queen of Carea", he shook his head, then stopped in the midst of the shady gravel path, "This for you, by the way. Leila has asked me to give you that. She would like to apologize in all its forms for her brother and sister." He handed her a box.

Kathryn peered inside and a smile flitted over her face. "The artifact. The real artifact." She took the Royal Band into her hands. She would hide it very well, somewhere in the palace, where only she and Chakotay would find it. And one day, Aeria would receive it.

"What´s wrong?", he asked, when he noticed her thoughtful expression, "I was expecting you to be happy."

"I am," she confirmed.

He sighed and leaned towards her to kiss her. "I have something else to do... Will we met for lunch?"

Kathryn thought it didn´t sound like a question and before she could say anything about it, he went away with a wink for her. He walked towards the throne room when he met Harry.

"May I ask you a question?", he wanted to know, and Chakotay slowed his pace. Tom, B'Elanna and their baby crossed their path, which were just on the way to the sea to swim there on this warm day. "Go Ahead."

"I'm not sure if I should marry Leila. She is, after all, a form changer..." They were standing on a railing, from which they had a good view of the garden.

"But she helped us and saved the planet," Chakotay interrupted.

"She was pretending to be someone else. But…" Harry watched how Leila spoke to the Queen, "What should I do? I'm pretty confused."

"I know how you feel," Chakotay confirmed. "When Kathryn and I crashed on Carea and she couldn´t remember...", he shook his head, "She was the woman I wanted to be with. At the same time, she was different person. Sometimes I wondered if I was probably making a mistake." Chakotay watched Kathryn talking to Leila and then taking Aeria on her arm.

"What convinced you that the opposite was true?"

"Kathryn." From the corner of his eye, Chakotay saw that this answer wasn´t helpful for Harry first. Because in the end Harry himself would have to know, was right and what was not.

"Harry, I really appreciate that you set up the communication link for me, but go," Chakotay said to Lieutenant Kim three days later, "Your wife is waiting for you. You should be on your honeymoon." They had been celebrating Harry's wedding yesterday night. Almost all crewmembers had been there, except for Ensign Meyers, whose wife gave birth to her baby.

At the celebration, they had a discussion with the minister of Corellia, who thought he had to be served by other guests. At some point the bearded man demanded Chakotay to get him a new drink. "I won´t," Chakotay had said and the reply made the man's beard tremble. "I never thought I'd say that," Chakotay murmured to Tom, who was standing next to him and involuntarily became a witnessed the discussion, "...But I'm the king of this planet and for that reason you'll take care of your drink." He saw how Kathryn in her fire- red dress smiled amusedly about the commentary (and the fact he emphasized to be the king), and the Corellia's minister left offended.

Harry's fingers scuttled across the keyboard of Chakotay's laptop, standing in the common quarters of him and Kathryn. "I'm done," he said, "You can now talk to your family on Earth." It was incredible that Harry Kim had found a way to talk to their families. They hoped the connection was stable and that as many crew members as possible could benefit from it. But there were also people who were not interested in the new communication: Tom and B'Elanna, for example. Both said there was no one on earth with whom they would like to talk. Chakotay was sure this wasn´t true.

A little undecided, Harry was standing in front of the desk. "Thank you, Lieutenant", with these words, Chakotay sent him away and he looked impatiently at the screen. A small, blue symbol announced an incoming call and he confirmed the connection. The picture slowly became better. A woman with dark hair, about his age, could be recognized.

"Chakotay?", she asked.

"Sekaya."

"My goodness," she was overwhelmed to see her brother, "I am so glad to see you. How are you?"

And before he could answer an older woman appeared beside her, "Mother is also here." Tears entered the eyes of the two women. Chakotay realized that his sister had moved into a new home because he didn´t know her apartment. Obviously she now lived near a beach. I was summer although he knew it was autumn on earth.

"Oh, wait a second," the older woman said, after talking for a while, "Where are your wife and your children?"

Chakotay recalled he had asked Kathryn to be in their quarters. That was an hour ago. And as if she had read his thoughts, the door opened at that moment. Kathryn entered and on her right arm she carried Riehsa. Aeria followed her mother. With a stuffed animal under her arm, she ran to her father.

"Excuse me, are we too late?", Kathryn wanted to know when she sat beside him. She also was astonished - but very pleased - that they could talk to their family on earth.

"Kathryn, these are my sister Sekaya and my mother Vana," he said, "Mother. Sekaya. These are my wife and my two children."

"Hello, Grandma!", Aeria shouted happily into the laptop and waved. They were crying in emotion and Aeria looked at her father confused. "Daddy, did I say something wrong?"

"No my Darling."

They talked for almost two hours and when they had said good-bye to each other and promised to talk to each other again, soon, they ended the communication with a heavy heart. Kathryn breathed out relieved. "I am glad they obviously like us."

"My mother and my sister love you," Chakotay corrected her and he saw Kathryn nodding slowly.

"I knew you were a little bit scared of this meeting that´s why I surprised you with this."

"You knew?"

"Sure, but you have a very good heart, Kathryn. And I know you quiet a long time."

She smiled relieved.

"You know, I met Tom and B´Elanna before I came here… They are on the way to the beach. What about joining them for a walk?"

"Sounds good. I…", he suddenly stopped. Then he reached for his laptop and tried to reach his sister.

"What´s wrong?", Kathryn asked confused.

"My sister. She´s here. But how?" On Earth it was September. And he had recognized the beach in the background.

"Are you sure?"

In this moment, Sekaya replied.

"Where are you?", Chakotay asked.

"I came here with the Starfleet." She turned her laptop around and they could see the beach much better now. It was a wonderful sandy beach near Berra. They saw a few palms and the shape of the moon Cana in the sky.

His heart skipped a beat because he was shocked. He never expected the Starfleet to come here. How was that possible? And why were they here?

Fin?


	12. Home I

Title: Home I  
Author: Dancing Star  
Pairing: Janeway/ Chakotay  
Rating: 12  
Category: AU, Romance  
What happens: The Starfleet shows up on Carea.  
Notes: I decided to change the title of the story. And again: Sorry for sounding like Master Yoda. Reviews welcome! :-)

Home I

The small shuttle reached a beautiful beach on the edge of the capital Berra. As soon as Kathryn landed, she leaned back in the pilot seat. Through the front window, she could see Vana, Chakotay's mother, already coming out of the house.  
"Since I know my mother and my sister are here, I'm pondering what I'm supposed to tell them...", Chakotay said to her.  
"I have a few ideas." Kathryn looked at him and reached out for him, gratefully grasped. Chakotay nodded. "Believe me, it also has its reasons why I was glad my mother lived very far away from us," he suddenly said.  
"I have little experience with mothers-in-law," Kathryn replied, "And you're not helping me to want get experience."  
"Sorry… Actually, my mother and sister are quiet okay."  
They got up and left the shuttle together.  
Vana had reached the little space ship now. She was visibly disappointed they hadn´t brought the children with them.  
"Hello, my son," Vana said to Chakotay, stepping a step to embrace him. His mother began to sob. "I'm sorry," she said as she parted from him, "I didn´t expect to see you again." Then she turned to Kathryn.  
"Good day," Kathryn said, reaching out to Vana.  
"It's nice to get to know you finally," Vana's eyes lit up and Kathryn didn´t miss Vana's expectation: "You didn´t bring the girls?"  
"No, I thought it would be wiser for the children to stay in the palace," Chakotay said. He saw that his sister was standing in the doorway of the house where she lived. "It's nice you are here, but it´s a little surprising," he confessed, "How did you come here?"  
"It is wonderful," again tears in Vana's eyes, "The Starfleet finally found a way to overcome very long distances. We're here to get you home." Vana didn´t notice how Kathryn and Chakotay quickly changed a worried look.  
"No, mother," Sekaya suddenly said, reaching for her mother's shoulders cautiously, then stretching herself to shake Kathryn's hand. "My name is Sekaya. I am pleased to meet you."  
Kathryn nodded and Sekaya invited her to her apartment.  
"Excuse me," the woman with long, black hair said, as Vana had gone outside on the balcony for a moment to breathe fresh air. "Before we started this trip, I explained to Mother, she should take into consideration that you are very happy here and may don´t want to come home."  
"Because you're talking about it," Chakotay said, "Since when does the Starfleet carry travelers to a distant planet in the Delta Quadrant?"  
"They don´t," Sekaya sat down, "I am a Counselor on board of the ship called Ophelia. When the admiral proclaimed the mission's destination, I reported immediately, but only on the condition that Mother could also come along. Mother is the only private person on this mission."  
Chakotay had not known his sister had entered the service of the Starfleet. It must have cost her much effort that his mother could also come along.  
"We didn´t want you to find out on our own that we are on Carea..."  
"What was your plan, then?", Chakotay interrupted his sister. "Were you going to knock on the door of the palace one day?" He noticed Kathryn touching his forearm, gently pressing him. The whole tension resembled the situation in which they visited Janey's mother.  
When Vana entered the living room again, he decided to calm down.  
"So well," he thought, "Why is the starfleet here?"  
"I'm afraid I'm not authorized to tell you this," Sekaya said, "I'm sorry, but I'm just the Counselor."

On the way home, Kathryn let Chakotay fly the shuttle and she watched anxiously how he crouched behind the navigation. The skyline of the capital Berra was already visible and while Chakotay controlled the shuttle, they just barely missed a swarm of passing ducks.  
"You should fly a little slower," she admonished him, "Or will you kill us both?"  
"No," he replied without looking at her, but she suspected he was angry inside. They had visited his sister and his mother to find out why they were here. Of course, they were also glad their family was reunited, but Chakotay was annoyed he couldn´t figure out how and why the Starfleet was on Carea. "Perhaps you should ask Admiral Paris," recommended his sister. He imagined they would do that as soon as they had tracked the admiral.  
Kathryn decided to discuss a delicate subject, because he couldn´t escape her now. "I thought it was a pity you didn´t show your mother and sister you are glad to see them again."  
"Haven´t I?"  
"No," Kathryn confirmed. "It's a miracle Vana and Sekaya agreed to visit us in the palace tomorrow."  
"I'm glad to see my family again," he admitted as he flew the small shuttle into the Voyager´s shuttle bay.  
"Good," Kathryn said when they got out, "I was about to ask if they had also brought my mother." And Kathryn didn´t talk of Queen Riehsa but of Gretchen Janeway. She was probably the only person in the entire galaxy that had two biological mothers and fathers.  
Meanwhile, they had left the Voyager and went through the palace. "You sneer at me, don´t you?", Chakotay suddenly asked.  
"I would never do that," Kathryn armlinked with him and patted his arm, "I just didn´t expect you to react like this when you see your family again."  
"I wasn´t expecting to see them HERE. That's all", he admitted honestly when they walked through the palace. They met Tom and B'Elanna, who also went in their direction. They noticed that today many crew members were her who seemed to be upset.  
"What's going on?", Kathryn asked and they walked faster. From a distance, they could see Neelix talking to a gray-haired man in a starfleet uniform, and Neelix's facial expression was very tense. Kathryn had a foreboding about what they were talking about.  
Tom stopped. "A question: What is that?"  
"What? You should rather ask: Who? "  
"I can tell you who that is," when Tom said this, Kathryn's eyes widened, "This is my father. Admiral Owen Paris. What is he doing here? "  
Kathryn saw her suspicions confirmed. She hurried to the admiral and tried to look as strict as possible.  
"The entire Voyager crew is under my protection!", Kathryn yelled to the gray man.  
"But Kathryn, I have..."  
"I am the queen," she admonished him sternly, "How do you dare to talk to me like this?" Normally, this wasn´t her style.

"Um, Majesty," Neelix was visibly nervous, "This is Admiral Owen Paris, who came here with a ship called Ophelia."  
"Ophelia," repeated Tom snorting, who had reached the group with B'Elanna and he turned to his father, "My sister. How could you call a ship after her, though she was at least as black as I am?" He saw Kathryns and B'Elanna's questioning glances as he folded his arms in front of the chest.  
Later, Tom would tell them that he had an older sister named Ophelia. Ophelia was also a researcher and one day an extraterrestrial being came to Earth. It was so fast that it broke through the barriers of the starfleet and finally landed in a park in San Francisco. The creature had the form of a tiny, orange-colored light ball and it seemed peaceful. Ophelia was among the scientists who wanted to get in contact with the creature, but the starfleet thought it was dangerous if the creature had already passed them without being interested in a contact. There was a terrible accident in the park. Tom spared the details, but to put it briefly: His sister died because his father ordered to kill the creature and the executive forces destroyed everything which put themselves in their way.  
"Hello, boy," Admiral Paris said to Tom.  
"Hello Father," Tom's voice sounded almost unemotional. "Father, this is the Queen of Carea. Her Royal Highness Queen Kathryn... "  
"I read the reports of what happened to you," Owen said, noting how strict Kathryn's face was.  
"This is General Chakotay and I suppose someone has also told you about my wife, B'Elanna."  
"Nice to meet you all in person," the admiral said, "Nevertheless, we have made the long way here because there are some things to discuss. Queen, I suggest we talk."

Kathryn had insisted on taking Chakotay to her conversation. They were now sitting in the throne room, watching the admiral showing them a hologram of Carea: "Carea, diameter 6,700 kilometers. 108 million kilometers away from its star, called Caressa. Rotation period 23 hours 37 minutes. Second planet in a system of eight. 50 million inhabitants. Two continents. Capital Berra. 60% of the planet are covered by water. Average temperature 30 degrees Celsius. Form of government: Hereditary monarchy. Two moons: Caro and Cana... "  
"You don´t have to call us the data of our planet," said Kathryn, "This is known to me. After all, I am the queen of the hereditary monarchy."  
"Your children: The princesses Aeria and Riehsa. An heir and a spare", the admiral continued, "As you can see, we have done our homework."  
Kathryn rolled with her eyes. "What do you mean?"  
"On the way, we have already met some interesting species, like the Mori. Do you know them?"  
"The Mori?" Kathryn asked, "Yes, we already know them."  
The Mori were indeed interesting people: Like the Careans, their head of state was a king. The Voyager crew met the Mori at a time when they were still on the way to the Alpha Quadrant. At that time they still believed Carea had been destroyed. The King of the Mori offered the Voyager crew an abbreviation of three months when they crossed their sector, but he had also warned them because they came at a very bad time: There was mating time in the Mori sector and the king had already noticed that other species were subject to the ritual, too. He guessed there was something special in the air... Probably this was the reason why many other species avoided the Mori sector. The king didn´t know... On a sunny afternoon Kathryn and Chakotay met the Mori King because they wanted to know what exactly they had to expect. "First you will notice the colored spots on your bodies," the king had said, "The male and the female have spots of the same color. It guides to find the right partner. Next, the partners connect and they can hear each other's thoughts. Next he comes to the mating. The female loses her spots as soon as the fertilization has taken place. The male loses his spots last. As soon as you leave the Mori sector, the stains disappear as well."  
Chakotay remembered that while the two were talking to each other, he watched a woman walking past him with a stroller-like construct. For a brief moment, he imagined what it would be like if he and Kathryn had a baby. The thought pleased him and he found he couldn´t wait a long time until he finally asked her if she wanted to become his wife. He was ready to put their relationship to the next level. And he hoped she was ready, too... They ended the conversation with the king and Kathryn wanted to know from Chakotay what he thought of the abbreviation. He was in favor of taking the chance, Kathryn was not sure. Chakotay said at the time that he wasn´t concerned at all and added a little quieter that he already had a partner, namely her. Kathryn, on the other hand, was plagued by quite different worries, for example, the fact that the mating ritual of the Mori could reveal they were incompatible. They flew through the Mori sector and one week later the crew still behaved normally, at least it seemed so. Nevertheless, Kathryn had noticed some crewmembers had green or orange spots on their hands or neck. So it worked... One evening, Neelix launched a party for the crew. It was the evening when Kathryn realized there was no reason at all to be worried because they WERE compatible. Just four weeks later, after a visit at the sick bay, Kathryn remembered she had lost her spots much earlier than he did and she remembered the words of the Mori king. Kathryns knew in this night they "launched" their first child. In retrospect, it was also a miracle that Kathryn knew nothing about Chakotay's plans to ask her if she wanted to become his wife after this intimate and passionate time. And she was deeply surprised Aeria was apparently the only child born 40 weeks later. She would have expected more children...  
"I still don´t understand why you are here now," Kathryn repeated.  
"The Starfleet has decided to bring those home who want."  
"And everyone who wants to stay here..."  
"...is allowed to stay on Carea," Admiral Paris assured her.  
"Fine. I will inform the crew. "  
"Before we go home, we need to replenish our supplies and repair some things. A place in one of your hangars would be very helpful... "  
"There is currently no possibility to get you in a hangar," said Kathryn, "Admiral, I will inform you as soon as possible."  
Admiral Paris thanked her, then left the throne room, leaving a very perplexed Kathryn. "What do you think?", Chakotay wanted to know when they were alone. He had been held back during the conversation as an attentive listener.  
"I have a bad feeling...", Kathryn suddenly said.  
"Yes, me too," Chakotay agreed, who was afraid to imagine something. At this moment, Samantha Wildman reported via Com: "Wildman to the Captain!"  
"Chakotay here!"  
"Better, you and the Queen are coming to Voyager. I've discovered something."  
Kathryn and Chakotay looked at each other questioningly. Then they set off...

Samantha Wildman was on the bridge, guarding Harry's former station, the OPS. Since Harry had been promoted, it was her station. "What´s wrong, ensign?" Chakotay asked as he stepped out of the turbolift.  
The Voyager was still docked in the hangar, but some stations were occupied.  
"When you said the Starfleet was here, I scanned their ship," Samantha said and a space ship that looked quite similar to Voyager appeared on the main screen, "The Ophelia is slightly larger than our ship. But this is not the reason why I asked you here", the side- view of Ophelia appeared on the main screen, "In the scans I found out that I can´t grasp a section. The section is protected by a changing shield frequency. Every time I try to get through the shields, the frequency changes. "  
Kathryn noticed the section Samantha was talking about had to be at the place where the lab was located. "Sounds almost like they're hiding something from us," Kathryn remarked. "Try to continue, ensign. Maybe it turns out to be unimportant at the end, but maybe something is wrong..."

The next day, Kathryn was excited when Vana stepped out of a shuttle and went up the wide marble staircase to the palace. She had never expected to get a visit from her mother-in-law and she felt more excided now.

Aeria ran down the stairs to her grandmother and was happy to see her. Vana embraced Aeria. Sekaya had been here since this morning and Chakotay first showed her the palace, then the capital. Kathryn had told him to apologize to his sister and when he went off nodding, she didn´t think he´d really do. "This is an order, General!", she had added for this reason.  
"Hello Kathryn," Vana said to her as she walked down the stairs.  
She smiled nervously. "Hello," her thoughts rushed and she hoped that during the day she wouldn´t run out of stream. "Let's go through the garden," Kathryn suggested, "I'll show you the palace."  
"With pleasure."  
"Fine." As she turned away from Vana, she rolled her eyes. "Starting well," she thought to herself. Kathryn stretched out her free hand to Aeria and she held Riehsa in her left arm.  
In the garden of the palace there was a large pond, in the middle of it stood a weeping willow on a small island. The water surface was covered with water lilies and ducks were splashing in the pond. The beautiful pond was Kathryn's favorite place. "Mommy, look! A large duck!", Aeria yelled, pointing to a particularly large bird swimming in the water between the quaking ducks.  
"That's a goose, darling," Kathryn said to her daughter, grabbing her hand as Aeria hovered over the water with her right foot. Then she apologized to Vana, because Aeria was at the moment in a phase, in which she was curiously following each animal.

"It is very nice to meet you in person," Vana commented. "It's almost as if I have known you for years. But I missed quite a lot..." She asked some questions, which Kathryn liked to answer. Riehsa on Kathryn's arm became noticeable and Vana offered to hold the baby for a while.  
"She is adorable," she said, holding her granddaughter in her arms and smiling at the baby, "Was not Aeria jealous when Riehsa was born?"  
"No. Before the baby arrived, we gave Aeria a doll and showed her how to handle her little sister." The two siblings had an age difference of almost 3 years and Kathryn found it was ideal. Although it wasn´t always easy to be pregnant, it was one of the most beautiful experiences in her life (and the moment when she and Chakotay held their baby for the first time in their arms).  
"I still remember this very well," Vana suddenly said to Kathryn when she saw her hand and also her engagement ring and wedding ring.

"Did you know that Chakotay's father gave me the ring?"  
"Yes, I know. Chakotay clearly thought it was a good sign you were both married until his death."  
"Listen, I didn´t want that...", she searched for the right words, "I wanted to apologize for our reaction yesterday when..."  
"It doesn´t matter," Vana said, "Sometimes children drift away from their parents. I just wanted to convince myself my son is doing well. Knowing that he has such a wonderful wife and two sweet children is... Somehow calming."  
Kathryn smiled, relieved.  
They continued walking, keeping an eye on Aeria, who was walking around them, picking flowers. Then she gave her grandmother the bouquet. They had reached the terrace in front of the royal family's quarters and they entered.  
In the living room, Cierra was busy looking after a little baby. "I didn´t know you also have a Klingon child," Vana said.  
"This is not our baby," Kathryn replied, "Miral belongs to Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres."  
"They asked me to look after Miral for a while," Cierra said. "They didn´t want to take the baby to a meeting with Admiral Paris." Cierra could understand why: When the two left Miral here, B' Elanna asked Tom: "Aren´t you happy your Father is here?" And the commander replied:" To be honest, my joy is limited."  
Vana now remembered the bag she carried with her. "Aeria, can you remember that I wanted to know what you want for your birthday," Vana asked, "I know it's still a little early, but I've brought you a few presents."  
Chakotay's mother had sewn a beautiful, colorful summer dress for Aeria. Aeria loved the dress very much. She was also happy about the gifts she had received. Only the little kitten, which she wanted so much, had not been there.  
While Aeria thanked her and was unpacking her gifts, the entrance door to the royal family's quarters opened. Kathryn was never so relieved to see her husband. And Aeria recognized her aunt, whom she had already met, when her parents were still expecting them to be on earth.  
"Your Royal Highness, may I take you on my arm?", Sekaya asked before putting Aeria on her arm and the little girl stretched out her arms for her aunt.  
Sekaya saw how relieved Kathryn was and she armlinked with her husband. Chakotay smiled at his wife. Then Sekaya saw how pale her mother had suddenly become. "Mother, is everything all right?", she asked, and Vana nodded.  
"Yes, I... I'm just a little dizzy..."

"Let's go outside for a moment and get fresh air?" With Aeria in the arm, Sekaya headed for the terrace and Vana followed her. There they stood for a few minutes, talking.  
"How's it going?", Chakotay wanted to know from his wife when they were alone.  
"I don´t know," Kathryn explained, "In the beginning, our conversation was quite bumpy, but I think it´s getting better." They watched Vana and Sekaya and then decided to go outside as well. As they reached the marble railing on which Vana and Sekaya leaned, a small, round object shot past them, hit a tree and finally landed in a pond. A man in golfer's uniform and half-bald head ran after the ball, while in his left hand he was carrying a golf club.  
"This is our doctor," Chakotay said. Thanks to a lot of holo- emitters, he was able to move freely throughout the palace and on Voyager.  
"He likes to golf," Kathryn added, "Recently, during a game of golf, he struck one of the windows in the palace."  
Sekaya laughed snortingly. "We already met him," she said, "And we'd like to meet the rest of the Voyager crew."  
"I think this is possible. We celebrate the birthday of Commander Paris. You should join us... "

Kathryn and Chakotay arrived at the appointed time and they were amazed that almost no crew members were present. The birthday party took place in a pavilion at the other end of the palace garden.  
"Was the party canceled?", Kathryn wanted to know when they met Neelix, who was carrying a bowl full of Leola- root chips. The worst food humanity knew, Kathryn thought.  
"No," he said, "Tom postponed the party a bit so he can make sure his father doesn´t show up... I thought we had informed all the crew members..." He looked very thoughtful.  
"Alright," Kathryn nodded, looking at Chakotay, "We're going for a little walk." They were about an hour away, before they returned to the pavilion. Neelix now shared drinks and Kathryn was waiting on a bridge that crossed a small stream, while Chakotay sought his mother and sister. "They are not there yet," he said as he returned to her.  
Kathryn looked up at the sky and Chakotay did the same. He tried to determine what she was looking for. Finally, he saw two big blue stars that seemed to be alone in their sector.  
Chakotay noticed how beautiful she was. She was wearing a very pretty summer dress and her long, red hair hung in waves over her right shoulder. A yellow orchid was interwoven in one of the strands. He stepped closer to her and put his hands on her shoulders. Then he began to massage her gently. "There is an old legend," Kathryn told, "In this legend, the stars Alta and Trios are a love couple who have been exiled to heaven. They are only allowed to come close once a year. The two stars are called the Lovers... You haven´t done that for a long time, "she said, smiling and turned to him.  
Even now, he managed to get her confused. And he decided to use the situation to kiss her. He pulled her closer when her hand began to pet him at his neck. She knew exactly how much he liked this. A blissful glance lay in her eyes when they parted from each other.  
"Remember what the doctor has said: We flirt too much in public."  
They were interrupted by a sound which definitely sounded like his sister, who cleared her throat. "Love must be wonderful," she remarked.  
Chakotay kept Kathryn's arm.

"Majesty, here is Millah," suddenly a voice came over Com, "I'm sorry I must disturb you, but Princess Aeria is asking for you."  
Kathryn rolled her eyes. "The princess asks, hm?... I take care of Aeria and I'll be back in half an hour."

Aeria was extremely creative when it was necessary to lead Millah down on the garden path, because her only wish was that her mother would take her to bed. Kathryn covered Aeria and her doll with a blanket and asked if she should tell a story and of course the little girl was thrilled. When the story came to an end, Kathryn gave her daughter a good night kiss on her forehead. She spend as much time as possible with her children. When Kathryn was a child, her mother had very little time for her, and she had decided to do it differently if she ever had a child.  
"I love you, Mommy," Aeria said.  
"I love you, too, sweetheart," Kathryn was flattered by this compliment.  
"Mommy, what is a heart attack?", Aeria suddenly asked.  
"What?", Kathryn thought she had misheard and she hadn´t expected such a question, "How do you come up with something like that?"  
Aeria turned to the side and hugged her doll tighter. She seemed to feel that the explosiveness of this subject put her mother in an alert mood. "Sekaya has said to Grandma that she needs to be careful because she has already had a heart attack three times."  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yes. I was there and sat on Aunt Sekaya's arm." Aeria still didn´t look at her mother. Kathryn suspected Aeria already knew the answer to her question. She had perhaps only looked for a gentle way to tell her mother.

Two hours later Kathryn sat in the living area of her quarters. Her baby Riehsa lay on her chest and slept. Kathryn gently stroked Riehsa's back as the door opened and Chakotay entered. "Why didn´t you come back?", He asked her as he settled down next to her.

While he was speaking, Riehsa in Kathryn's arm became noticeable. "Here is your answer," Kathryn whispered, "Riehsa has only been sleeping for twenty minutes."  
"Where is Aeria?"  
"Sleeping since two hours," Kathryn confirmed, recalling the question her daughter had asked her. "We have to talk," she said to her husband and a knock on the door aroused Kathryn's attention, "But first I take the baby to bed."

As it turned out, the late visit were Tom and B'Elanna. Kathryn had invited them and asked for help because she thought the shock might be too huge for Chakotay. When Kathryn woke up in her bed that night, she knew immediately that her husband was still dealing with the conversation they had about his mother. And then they had summoned the doctor and told him to get some answers. Unfortunately, he had to confirm that his mother wasn´t doing well.  
"Kathryn to Chakotay," she said as she pushed her communicator, who was on her night table, but he didn´t answer.  
"Oh, I know exactly where you are." She wanted to get up, but at that moment the door to her room opened and Chakotay entered. She didn´t have to say something. A little depressed, he climbed on the bed and lay down on her side. Kathryn wrapped her arms around him and began to pet his back and neck gently. Her warmth and nearness felt so good. Closely embraced and cuddling with each other they finally fell asleep...

After Kathryn got up the next morning and left the bedroom, she immediately noticed the big bouquet of Careanese roses. The roses belonged to her favorite flowers and they flourished only on Carea in the most beautiful red and pink tones.  
"Not again," she said and walked to the table where the vase stood. She took the vase and ran to the terrace.  
"Are you angry with me?", Chakotay asked when she passed him. He sat with Aeria, Tom and B'Elanna at the breakfast table, but they hadn´t started eating yet.  
"No."  
"Good. The flowers are a gift for you from me."  
When Kathryn heard this, she stopped and put the vase on the breakfast table. "I'm a bit paranoid," she said, "I thought the bouquet was again from a mysterious messenger, because we had enough trouble with the last... Thank you, darling. The flowers are beautiful." She sat down to them at the table and they began to eat.  
"How are you today?", Tom wanted to know from Chakotay and Kathryn shrank inwardly because he had hit the mark. Chakotay hesitated with his reply, "It would have been nice my mother or my sister would have told me what´s going on. It was not very elegant to learn this way."  
They all could understand he was angry.

"How´s Samantha with the Scans of Ophelia?", Kathryn asked B'Elanna. They had already inaugurated the senior officers that something on the ship seemed to be wrong.  
"There's no news, I'm sorry."  
"Is there actually a reason for the flowers?", Kathryn frowned questioningly.  
"I thought you need a little encouragement...", Chakotay replied.  
"Why?" Kathryn asked, confused.  
"Because of this," Tom handed her a PADD across the table and Kathryn read an explanation that the palace had published last night: "The Queen and the General are delighted to travel to earth and are excited about the exciting program that is available. They have decided their daughters, the princesses Aeria and Riehsa, will accompany them on their journey…. That's not true," Kathryn confirmed.  
"We owe this to my father," Tom said, "I'm sure. He's an idiot, nothing has changed..."  
"What does that mean?", Aeria asked.  
"Nothing, darling." Kathryn stroked her daughter´s head as she answered.  
"I'll deal with it afterwards and talk to the admiral," Chakotay said.  
"Do you think that's a good idea?", Kathryn asked.  
"No, but I am the captain and if I may cite the Borg Queen, I´m the protector of the planet Carea. That´s my job."  
They finished breakfast and then Chakotay, Tom and B'Elanna said goodbye to the Queen. "I can´t wait for this conversation," Tom said.  
"We're back as fast as we can," Chakotay promised to his wife.  
Millah entered the quarters and handed Tom a small box. "These are the PADDs you wanted," she told him, "Commander, what is bet 23?"  
"Read the PADD," he replied.  
"What will be the name of the first royal baby?"  
Then Commander Paris took the box. Millah had no idea why he needed these records.

They left the quarters and because Riehsa had woken up, Kathryn had gone to her room to get the baby.  
"Millah, I´m in my office for a while. I'll take the princesses with me", Kathryn informed her maid of honor. Since Janey was no longer there, Cierra and Millah took over this task and she thought they did their job well. Cierra traveled to her sister last night, who had got twins.  
"Yes, Your Majesty," Millah nodded, "Please call me if you need something."  
In her office Kathryn put her baby in a cradle and Aeria sat down on a very fluffy carpet. There she played with a miniature replica of a space ship, which was definitely starfleet. The upper section looked like a big ball and the ship had only one Warp nacelle.  
Kathryn was just reading a letter sent by the Minister of Corellia, when a clattering sound in the next room attracted her attention. "Millah, is everything all right?", she cried, but Millah didn´t answer.  
She heard now a sound which sounded like a broken window-pane.  
"Millah?"

Aeria looked anxiously at her mother, who was getting up and took the baby out of the cradle. She hurried to the door and Aeria followed her curiously. "Millah, is..."  
She stopped in the middle of the sentence when she saw the phaser a blond woman held in her face.  
"Your Majesty, she just broke in!", Millah's voice sounded panicky when she searched for her communicator in the pocket of her long, yellow robe.  
"It's all your fault," the blond woman said to Kathryn.  
"Maybe you first tell me who you are," Kathryn held Aeria with her left arm tightly while she held the baby in her right arm.  
"Don´t pretend to be innocent. You know exactly who I am."  
"I swear, I don´t know you," while Kathryn said that, an impatient look flickered to Millah, still looking for the communicator in her robe.  
The intruder also noticed this and she directed her phaser at Millah and shot. Millah fell to the ground and immediately Kathryn and Aeria had rushed to her. They could see that the left arm of the maid was hurt.  
"Sit down on the couch," the woman ordered and Kathryn helped Millah getting up. She was crying because the pain almost killed her. When they were sitting on the couch, Kathryn pulled Aeria close.  
"Who are you?", Kathryn repeated her question.  
"You know who I am." The young woman went to the front door because she saw a movement there.  
"I'm sorry when I have to disturb you", clearly Tom's voice, "But I've forgotten that..." The next he remembered was the unknown woman who shot at him. The force that the shot caused made him stumble backwards out of the door.  
"No!", Kathryn cried, trying to get up.  
"Stay, or I'll shoot you, too," the intruder said to her.  
Aeria sat on Kathryn's lap and the dark-haired girl looked at her mother anxiously.


	13. Home II

Title: Home II  
Author: Dancing Star  
Pairing: Janeway/ Chakotay  
Rating: 12  
Category: AU, Romance  
What happens: Mary Anne Johnson has a dark secret...  
Notes: Maybe this part of the story reminds you a bit of a movie that recently was in cinemas. I liked it and therefore have "borrowed" a few elements. In addition, I have also borrowed a few planet- names from Star Wars. Have fun!

 **Home II**

Tom Paris wasn´t mortally injured, but the wound on his right shoulder was a big handicap. Injured, he went to the conference room where Chakotay, B'Elanna and his father were waiting for him. They were horrified when Tom broke down on the doorstep and before they could take him to the Voyager´s sick bay, he told them what had happened. "...I have no idea who she is, but she took the queen and princesses as hostage."  
"Which one?", The admiral asked back.  
"Both," Tom replied. "Millah was also shot, as far as I can judge. I could be wrong, because I could only take a quick look at the living room before I was shot."  
Chakotay immediately set out for his quarters. There, the door was locked. "Kathryn? Are you there?", he cried, but he didn´t receive an answer.  
"She can´t talk to you," another voice said, which he didn´t recognize.  
"Who are you?"  
"That does not matter."  
Although he was terribly worried, he set out for Voyager. He needed the help of the senior officers to end this.

Tears shimmered in Millah's eyes when she moved back and forth restlessly on the couch in the living room. Kathryn sat next to her, trying to fix her injured arm. "How are you?"

"I'm a bit dizzy," the young woman admitted, glancing at her bandage and tears shimmered again in her eyes, "...And I have severe pain."  
Their hostage- taker watched them as a bird of prey, who was just waiting to catch. "There is a medication kit in the bathroom. I need that", Kathryn said.  
"No."  
She rolled her eyes. "All right. I have no idea who you are and why you are here... "  
"You know exactly," the young woman's voice hissed and she held her phaser with trembling hands. "It´s your fault that my husband wants a divorce. He left me because of you."  
"I don´t know what you're talking about..."  
"Since Mark has been working with you, he is quite different. Before I came here I found out he was leaving me for you."  
"That is not true," said Millah, "The queen has never been on Earth before. Your assertion is ridiculous."  
They could see that their hostage- taker had every effort to handle her anger.  
"Wait, I know you," Millah said suddenly, "You were here yesterday and asked about the queen."  
Tears of anger glittered in the eyes of her hostage- taker and her hands trembled even more.  
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. I should have told you someone was asking for you last night", Millah turned to Kathryn, "I told her you and the General weren´t there because you were on date night. I didn´t say anything to you because I thought it wasn´t important."

"That's all right, Millah," Kathryn calmed her, begging her not to cry because she saw there were already tears in Aeria's eyes.  
"Stay quiet... Or should I shoot you again?", their hostage- taker asked.  
"Millah, stop... please," Kathryn's voice was like a whisper. She felt how Aeria held her hand more tightly, and she wanted to avoid a catastrophe. Aeria wouldn´t be able to handle it for the rest of her life when...

Millah agreed. As if paralyzed, they remained sitting on the couch, while their hostage- taker made sure that the entrance door was locked.

"I'm fine," Tom assured his wife as she watched as the doctor scanned his shoulder at the sick bay, "I'll survive."  
"He will," the doctor said, closing his medical tricorder. He looked at Admiral Paris and left them behind in the surgical aera of the sick bay.  
Chakotay came in and they immediately registered how worried he looked. "Tom, how are you?"  
"Better," the commander confirmed, "What about the queen?"  
"I guess she's still in her quarters. The hostage- taker doesn´t let me talk to her... Is there anything important you can remember before you were shot? "  
"How does she look like?", Admiral Paris gave an example to his son and Tom described a blonde woman who was about the same size as the queen. She was wearing a uniform of the Starfleet, and he assumed she belonged to the scientific staff. She wasn´t a member of the Voyager crew, because Tom would have known her then. So he concluded she had come with Ophelia. "I also suspect she is an ensign," Tom said as he swung his legs from the massive surgical bed and they saw the pain in his face. The doctor was able to heal the wounds, but the tissue would still hurt for a few days.

"I will download a list of all female crew members. You'll check the photos and tell us who she is", Admiral Paris decided. The download didn´t take even two minutes and when he handed Tom the PADD and he looked at the list, he stopped at the tenth person. "That is her."  
"Science Officer Mary Anne Johnson," B'Elanna read, who was standing next to Tom.  
"Wasn´t she checked before the trip?!", Tom wanted to know from his father.  
However, when Chakotay heard the name of the science officer, he immediately established a connection. "Kathryn once was engaged to a man named Mark Johnson," he remembered, "It may be just a coincidence, but..."  
"I'll check," Tom assured him. He kept his father's PADD with him and left the sick bay with B'Elanna.  
The doctor called after them that Tom should be careful in the next few days, but they didn´t hear that anymore.

Tom and B'Elanna also lived in the Royal Palace. However, while the quarters of Kathryn and Chakotay was located on the other side of the building and offered a wonderful view of the capital of Berra and its skyline and had a connection to the garden, the apartment of Tom and B'Elanna had a fabulous view to the sea. From here they saw all the ships that landed in the hangar of the palace. From the balcony even the Voyager could be seen, when the hangar doors were opened. The Ophelia was still in the orbit of Carea, but they had already seen the ship on scans and realized it looked like the Voyager. Only the Warp nacelles looked a little more modern.  
They hit their headquarters on the Voyager this time. Neelix and the doctor had come to them. Harry was still on honeymoon with his wife and they didn´t want to disturb him.  
From the corner of his eye, Chakotay saw how the door to the meeting room opened. His mother and sister entered. "Is it true?", Sekaya asked worried and she saw the tension in the face of her twin brother immediately´.

"You should leave..."  
"You need our help. Your family is in danger... "  
"I know," he snorted, "Maybe we'll talk about the things I don´t know yet."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Mother is sick," he said, and with the reaction of the two he knew he had hit the mark, "Why didn´t you tell me she already had three heart attacks?"  
"How do you get that idea?"  
"You had Aeria with you when you talked about it and she told Kathryn."  
"Obviously you haven´t expected Princess Aeria has an excellent linguistic development for her age. The Princess was able to talk much earlier than most children. This is because her parents spend very much time with her", the doctor explained, who then received a very bad look from Chakotay.  
"That is not true…!"  
"Don´t deny," he hissed, "But I have other worries that I need to take care of." Chakotay focused on Tom, B'Elanna, Neelix, and Admiral Paris. Sekaya took care of her mother, who was crying a bit.  
"I've checked the personal file of Mary Anne Johnson," Tom said, "She was married to a man named Mark Johnson for two years." If the data in her file was true, then she and Mark had married after Voyager had been lost for three years in the Delta Quadrant. In a way, Chakotay was relieved that Mark too had lived his life. Another entry in Mary Anne's personal files revealed that she and Mark had been living apart for two months. Apparently they had ended their marriage just before Mary joined this Mission.

"As far as I can remember, Ensign Johnson's application for this mission came at a very short notice," Admiral Paris told and Chakotay was convinced this was no coincidence. Apparently, the admiral had the same idea: "I'm sorry. No one knew what Mrs. Johnson was pursuing."  
"I have certainly also done my part," Sekaya said, "I met Mary Anne on board Ophelia and we came friends. She told me about her family and that her sister had just got a baby. I then said that my brother and his wife also had a baby. We were talking and I guess I've mentioned a name one time or another." Looking back, Sekaya found it strange that Mary had asked her questions about her brother and Kathryn.  
"I'm sure it's not your fault," Chakotay said to calm his sister.  
"Exceptionally, there was no one who tried to kill us, assimilate, or destroy our planet," Tom explained, "It was almost too good to be true." They were silent for a second. But then B'Elanna seemed to have an idea.  
"Wait here for me," she said and made her way to the door, "I'll be back in ten minutes."

At the same time, the baby on Kathryn's arm began to cry. Kathryn tried to soothe her daughter as best as she could.  
"Make her stop," Mary ordered her.  
"I can´t do that easily. She needs a new diaper", Kathryn said to the woman.  
"She doesn´t."  
"You don´t have to sit on the couch," Millah murmured. She and Kathryn saw Mary's thoughts seem to be racing. "All right," she said at last, "Go and change the baby´s diaper." She pointed to Millah with her phaser.  
"I can´t. My arm is hurt."  
"Then you will go," she now waved with her weapon before Kathryn´s face. Kathryn got up with her baby in her arms and held Aeria's hand. "The other child stays here," Mary said, "I don´t want to risk you running away."  
Aeria began to cry and Kathryn knelt before her daughter. "You don´t have to be afraid. I promise I won´t leave you alone."  
"You can stay with me, Princess," Millah told her and Aeria nodded. She sat down on the couch again but she didn´t stop crying. It took five minutes to changed the baby´s nappy. Kathryn could see how relieved Aeria was when she entered the living room again. As soon as Kathryn sat down, Aeria snuggled in mother´s arm. Her hostage- taker was now busy examining the location on the terrace.  
"Did you bring a phaser?", Millah whispered softly.  
"No," Kathryn replied in the same loudness. "What kind of mother would I be if I were hiding a gun in my children's rooms?"

"When Harry was working on a way to communicate with Earth, I helped him from time to time," B'Elanna told them when she started Chakotay's laptop, "A kind of live conversation to Earth is only possible with a 30-second delay. That means, you ask a question and get the answer 30 seconds later."  
"Boy, you married a very intelligent woman," Admiral Paris said to his son, but Tom acknowledged this with a "thank you" and then rolled his eyes.  
"But who on the Earth should we call?", Chakotay asked.  
"This is my part," Tom said, "I have also been able to find the sister of Mary Anne Johnson while studying the personal file: Lucy Baldwin lives in San Francisco and is ready to talk to you."  
They started the calling Miss Baldwin and a circular, blue symbol showed them that a connection was established. Finally, a young, blond woman appeared on the screen, which was similar to the photo of her sister. "Miss Baldwin, Good afternoon," Tom greeted her, "Thank you for taking the time to talk to us. We already know each other", Tom had contacted Miss Baldwin with Harry's laptop and asked if she would talk to the captain.  
They had to wait 30 seconds for her answer. "Good-day, Commander Paris," Lucy finally said, "I think it's very extraordinary to talk to you while you are so far from Earth... How can I help you?"

"Miss Baldwin, I have a question about your older sister Mary Anne. Did you know she is here in the Delta Quadrant?"  
It took a moment before Lucy answered. "I knew. After Mary told me Mark had left her there was no longer a reason to stay on Earth. Why do you ask? Is there a problem with Mary?"  
Tom now got up from the chair on which he was sitting, making room for Chakotay. "Miss Baldwin, my name is General Chakotay. I am married to the Queen of Carea. Carea is the planet on which USS Ophelia and thus also your sister is located at the moment. The queen and I have an almost three-year-old daughter and a seven-week-old baby. For an unknown reason, your sister took my wife and daughters as hostage. The worst feeling for me, however, is that I can´t help my family out of this situation. If something happens to them... I don´t know if I could bear that... ", as he spoke, they saw Lucy's expression changing. "We're just trying to understand why your sister does this. If you can give us a hint, then..."  
"I think I can help you," Lucy said, "Before my sister left for her mission, Mark broke up with her. The reason for the separation was a violent fight: Mary had caught Mark with another woman in a cafe and he had said goodbye to her with a kiss. When Mary told me about it, she also said she knew the woman. She was one of his co-workers, and she was called Cathrine."  
"That's it," B'Elanna realized, "She imagines the queen is to blame, because both have the same name."  
"It would also mean that Miss Johnson is no longer in the right mind." When Tom noticed what he had just said, he turned to Lucy. "Excuse me, Lucy." The person nodded, then said good-bye briefly and they ended the conversation.  
At least they now had a clue to the motive of the hostage- taker.

A low noise in Millah's ear caught her attention. At first she thought it was a fly, but when she heard voices, she shook her head.  
"I think I'm going crazy," Millah whispered, "I hear voices... That must be the blood loss..."  
"Voices?", Kathryn whispered as well, while she gently stroked Riehsa's back.  
"Yes. Strangely, it is the general's voice."  
Kathryn's pulse accelerated. Should Chakotay have found a way to get in touch with them? Kathryn remembered that at least Millah still had her communicator with her. She leaned against Millah. "What exactly did he say?", she asked.  
Millah listened. "I think he says you should divert her somehow."  
Kathryn wondered how she should to do this. Finally, she spotted a candle standing in front of her on the glass living room table. With her free hand she carefully opened a drawer at the table and took out the lighter. When her hostage- taker had turned her back on her, she decided to take the opportunity to light the candle. Then she threw it to the curtain, which immediately caught fire.  
"The curtain is on fire!", she cried and had immediately Mary's attention. She tried to extinguish the fire, but it didn´t work. The flame grew and Mary ran into the bathroom in panic.  
With Riehsa on her arm and Aeria at her hand, Kathryn got up. Millah also rose from the couch.  
In the moment her hostage- taker returned from the bathroom, a secret door opened in the wall. Kathryn was grateful she had shown her husband these secrets years ago and she was relieved he was there.  
Mary fell to the ground, but then she reached for her phaser, which she had attached to her belt. "Hide!", Kathryn cried. She, the children, and the injured Millah were safe behind the couch. They did not see Chakotay running through the room, but suddenly he was with them. "Are you okay?", he asked.

"Yes," Kathryn confirmed, and in the moment of relief they kissed.  
A phaser beam struck the window pane and they heard Aeria yelling. The new oxygen caused the fire behind them to get bigger. "Help me," Chakotay said, handing her a phaser. Kathryn put Riehsa in Millah's uninjured arm and ordered Aeria to stay in her hiding place. Then she moved to her position to the left of the couch, Chakotay took the right. They fired at the hostage- taker. She fired back and hit a window again. Glass shards rained down on them.  
Finally, it was Kathryn who brought Mary to a fall with a targeted shot.

The doctor took care of Millah's injury at the sick bay. She was at least so fit that she could leave the surgical bed to the unconscious hostage- taker.  
"How hard is she hurt?", Kathryn asked, when the doctor had finished Millah´s treatment and they looked at her hostage- taker, who was sleeping on the surgical bed.  
"I can wake her up if you want."  
Kathryn nodded and she, Chakotay, Tom an B´Elanna stayed outside the force field the doctor had built around the surgical area. They noticed that Admiral Paris had left their headquarters at some time. When Tom asked him where he was going, he only replied there was an emergency on Ophelia. Secretly Tom and B'Elanna wondered what an emergency this might be...  
The doctor placed a hypospray on the neck of Mary Anne Johnson and woke her up. Tired, she opened her eyes. "Where am I?", she asked.  
"Sick bay. Voyager," the hologram answered, helping her to get up.  
"You didn´t plan your attack very well," B'Elanna said, "As soon as you feel better, Admiral Paris will take you to Ophelia and..."  
"No!", the blond woman cried, "He can´t ..." She looked around searchingly and finally decided to give the holographic doctor a punch. The hologram shimmered briefly but was unimpressed. Then Mary saw a tray of medical instruments.

She took it and first threw the instruments against the force field. Before the doctor could soothe her, Mary Anne swung her legs from the surgical bed and with all her energy she ran against the force field.  
"She's totally insane," Tom notes, "Doc, can you calm her down?"  
Mary raged as the doctor pressed another hypospray against her neck. Then she collapsed unconscious.

In the evening Kathryn and Chakotay sat with Aeria at dinner table. "Millah, are you sure you don´t want to have a few days off?", Chakotay asked and Millah looked at him horrified.

"No," she replied, "You'd have to get Cierra back from her vacation, and I don´t want that."  
"Think, we can survive a few days without one of you," Kathryn added when she helped Aeria to eat.  
Millah also felt a little uncomfortable: She thought it wasn´t proper to have dinner with the royal family, but the queen had ordered her to join them at dinner. And Millah never opposed to an order.  
"Paris to the Captain!", Tom suddenly said and Kathryn rolled her eyes, while Chakotay pushed his communicator.  
"Go ahead, Commander."  
"She wants to talk to you."  
"Who?"  
"Mary Anne Johnson. She said there's something you should know about", Tom said and while he spoke. Kathryn considered what that might be. Then he added: "Something that the Starfleet would never tell you..."  
"We'll come right away," Chakotay promised, leaving his plate of salad reluctantly. He and Kathryn got up. "I'll stay with the kids," Millah offered and Kathryn nodded gratefully. Then they set off for Voyager.

Mary Anne Johnson has now been transferred to Voyager´s Arrest Cell. Like a cat of prey, she walked in front of the force field, which held her here. "All right, Ensign," Chakotay's voice sounded warning when he entered, "What is so important that you need to tell us."  
"We must talk inprivately..."  
"The Queen and Commander Paris will stay," said Chakotay. He didn´t notice how Kathryn and Tom were looking worried. Mary seemed to agree with this condition. "Is the room sound-proof?", she asked, "Have been Starfleet members on board, which were not part of your crew?"  
"I...", Chakotay put his hands in his sides, "I don´t quite understand..."  
"I have to show you something," Mary said, "But not here. We must go to the bridge."  
"Maybe you thought...", Tom agreed.  
"No. We have to go to the bridge", Mary repeated, "I suppose you already escaped the fact that Voyager´s scanners can´t capture the Ophelia- laboratory."  
While she said this, a cold chill ran over Kathryn's back. How did she know?  
"...I can show you what the reason is. But I can only show you on the bridge."

They couldn´t believe they were actually doing this. On the way to the bridge, they met B'Elanna and Mary didn´t want her to come along, too. Chakotay told her B'Elanna was also one of the senior officers and she would sooner or later find out what was happening.  
Having arrived at the bridge, Mary created a force field around the bridge at Samantha Wildman's now unoccupied station and raised the shields. Tom was alerted, but Mary promised there was no reason for that.

"I have to be sure we are not being listened," she said before showing a current scan of Ophelia on the main screen. She enlarged the section where the lab was located. "The shield frequency of Ophelia is currently 73.8%," she reported.  
"It's quite high for a ship that is in a quiet solar system," Tom said.  
"You'll see why the shields are so high," Mary hadn´t promised them much: when she adjusted Voyager's scanners, a figure with eight long arms and a large head appeared. It remained completely motionless.  
Kathryn and Chakotay stood in the middle of the bridge, watching on the main screen as Mary magnified the picture. "What is that?", Chakotay finally wanted to know. He operated his communicator: "Bridge to the Doctor and Neelix. You better come up here."  
"Aye Sir."  
They could hardly notice the darkness on the bridge, so they could see the scans much better.  
"Four months ago, the crew of Enterprise G brought a life form that seemed like a harmless solitary cell. They collected a sample at a mission on an ice moon of the planet Vulcan. Unfortunately, it turned out the form thrived particularly well on a planet with an oxygen-rich atmosphere and quickly developed into this being, which you now see on the scans."  
As Mary spoke, the Doctor and Neelix entered the bridge. They asked why the bridge was protected by a force field, which could only be entered by the senior officers. When Neelix saw the figure on the main screen, he held his breath. He had never seen such a thing before. The doctor was the same.  
"The being began to attack us and obviously it was hungry. In the headquarters of the Starfleet, where it was examined, 180 persons died. Under the command of Admiral Paris, they succeeded in making the creature incapable of fighting: They lured it into a training unit and exposed it to a methane-containing atmosphere. It fell into a stiffness. The problem is that no one knew what then happened to the monster... When Ophelia was already in the Delta Quadrant, I found out the truth: The being was aboard the ship."

"Did the crew know about it?", Kathryn turned to Mary Anne.  
"Unlikely, but not excluded. The crew was originally under the command of Captain Wye Antilles", Mary opened the personnel file of a Starfleet captain, "I believe he, too, has uncovered the secret. Some crewmembers have seen him being heavily injured in the arrest center. Since then, no one has ever heard of the captain. Admiral Paris is now in charge."  
"And he was planning on what to do?", Chakotay was still puzzled why Ophelia had come here with the creature on board.  
"I suppose the plan of the Starfleet is to resettle the Beast, but in the Alpha Quadrant, many inhabited planets are part of the Federation, and so they won´t expose it there," Mary said, still sitting at Samantha's station.  
"Why didn´t they expose it to an uninhabited class M planet?", The doctor wanted to know.  
"When I think of our trip to the Delta Quadrant, Admiral Paris must have tried...", Mary admitted, "...But all the uninhabited planets we tracked were unsuitable... For example, a planet of the Demon Class we found on the way here." She showed them the image of a red planet, "The protocols of the Starfleet prohibit to expose an individual on a hostile place, even if itself is hostile."

"A stupid rule," Tom said, who crossed his arms in front of the chest.  
"I suspect Admiral Paris is currently pursuing only one plan: Exposing the being on your planet and then returning to Earth. Carea doesn´t belong to the Federation, as you know... If he should manage to release the monster on Carea, it will kill the population. That's why Ophelia should never land on Carea."  
Again a cold chill ran through Kathryn as she remembered the Admiral wanted to land with Ophelia in one of the hangars.  
"I don´t believe this story," said B'Elanna, "The Starfleet would never do this."  
"A lot things have changed in the recent years, Lieutenant Torres. Also in the Starfleet. I am sure Admiral Paris only follows orders."  
"Why should we believe you?", Kathryn asked, "After all, you attacked us..."  
Mary breathed deeply, "That I believe you are the fault of my husband leaving me was a lie, Your Majesty. Mark really left me and I was so frustrated afterwards that I applied for this mission. But when I found out on board what the Admiral really was up to, I realized I had to help you. I used my divorce as an excuse to come near you and started the hostage-taking, so you´d take me to Voyager where I can talk to you undisturbed."  
Kathryn was currently having a problem with being lured, but she decided to ignore this time.  
"Commander Paris, I also apologize that I have shot you."

Tom wanted to say "Never mind," but that wasn´t true.  
"Why do you help us?"  
"Because the inhabitants of Carea are innocent. Just like the crew of Ophelia. "  
Kathryn suddenly nodded.  
"What is the plan?", Tom wanted to know, because he thought this nod meant they´d cooperate.  
"First we have to rescue Captain Antilles, provided he is still alive. He will help us. Then, we have two choices", Mary began, "Choice One: We destroy Ophelia and hope the alien won´t survive this. Innocent crew members would die. However, if Ophelia doesn´t return to Earth, the Starfleet may send further ships. We also don´t know whether the creature already had a chance to propagate on Earth. There could be more monsters. Choice Two: We chase Ophelia away and declare war on the Starfleet so they never return. No matter how you decide, it would end with you having to banish the Starfleet from this part of the galaxy."  
"I maybe consider a combination of both," Kathryn muttered thoughtfully.


	14. Home III

Title: Home III  
Author: Dancing Star  
Pairing: Janeway / Chakotay  
Rating: 12  
Category: AU, Romance  
What happens: Time to strike back...  
Notes: None, except for: Have fun!

 **Home III**

Kathryn's hands trembled when she entered her quarters at the Royal Palace and Millah could see something was wrong. "Millah, grab the things of the kids and then yours!", Kathryn told her, "Then you go to Voyager!"  
"Are we leaving?"  
"Almost," the queen replied, "Then you will call Cierra. She's supposed to come here, too... "  
"And when she asks for a reason?"  
"I beg you, do what I tell you!," Kathryn hurriedly ran into Riehsa's room and took the baby on her arm. Then she also took Aeria out of her bed. Carrying both children at the same time, wasn´t easy, but when she remembered the dangerous being who slept aboard Ophelia, she was almost in panic. Kathryn took the children to Voyager and when she returned to the palace, she met Millah who, despite her injured arm, dragged three suitcases at the same time.  
She met Chakotay and the doctor on the way to the bridge. "The crew is complete," he informed her, noting that the crew was at least as tense as he was. "We can start in half an hour."  
"I don´t think this is a good idea," Kathryn said, "We need a different plan. Maybe you remember that Admiral Paris insisted to land Ophelia in the hangar. It will be quite difficult for me to argue he can´t do that if there is room in the hangar... "  
"Okay…. Doctor, I need you when I talk to my sister: I need to know if she knew about the actual mission of Ophelia and you will act as a lie detector."  
"I´ll do my best," the hologram said. When the doctor was able to reveal their flirts with the slightest physical reaction, he was ready to expose a liar.  
All this didn´t necessarily help Chakotay's relationship between him and his sister. He almost didn´t recognize her, she had never had so many secrets before him.

Sekaya had no idea why her brother ordered her to Voyager´s meeting room. On the way, she met countless crewmembers who seemed to be all in a hurry so they didn´t have time to talk. When Sekaya finally entered the meeting room, all the senior officers were waiting for her. B'Elanna and Tom stared at her and the faces of Kathryn and Chakotay didn´t look very friendly. The doctor seemed to be watching her closely, and there was no emotion in the faces of Samantha Wildman and Talaxian Neelix. At the other end of the long table sat a person with whom Sekaya hadn´t counted.  
"Mary Anne?", she hurriedly looked to her brother, who had sat down between Kathryn and Tom at the end of the table. "What's going on?"  
Ensign Johnson rose from her chair and walked to the screen, which was behind her seat. "We suppose you know what that is," she said, showing her the scans of Ophelia´s lab. Sekaya stepped closer and watched the screen.  
"This is the creature that has raged at the Starfleet Headquarters," she said, "Is it here?" When she realized she and her mother were on the same ship as the being, a strange feeling called fear surrounded her heart.  
The doctor noticed the panic in Sekaya's voice.  
"Did you know about it?", Chakotay wanted to know.

"No!", she exclaimed, "I've heard of the terrible disaster in the Starfleet Headquarters and also I lost friends. If I had known this monster was aboard Ophelia... "  
"She´s telling the truth," the doctor calmed the senior officers, "At least, so far."  
"We assume that Admiral Paris has plans to expose the entity on our planet..."  
Sekaya thought the sudden disappearance of Captain Antilles made sense. "The habitants wouldn´t survive that," Sekaya murmured.  
"We know. We were already informed about the incident at the Starfleet headquarters. Ensign Johnson told us... "  
"I wonder why Gretchen didn´t mention this incident in a word," Kathryn suddenly said when she thought about the letter her mother had written to her, and all the senior officers looked at her.  
"Maybe she didn´t know about it," the doctor said.  
"Or the Starfleet censored the letter," Mary added, "We will never know."  
"Do you really think the Starfleet would do that?" B'Elanna was skeptical.  
"Look at the scans of Ophelia," Tom said gravely said to his wife, "They sent us a monster. Actually, I´m not surprised at all."  
Chakotay looked at his sister. "And? Will you help us? "  
"Yes. This is the least I can do, "she replied, "What is the plan?"

"We already have a few ideas," Tom sounded very proud and he also went to the screen, "Ensign Johnson suggested we should first free Captain Antilles. We suspect he's in the arrest cell of Ophelia. We will use an old trick from Earth called the Trojan horse." They had tried to destroy the Borg collective with this trick, but this time it had to work. If they were trying to enter Ophelia, there was no way to inject anyone. "We need to take a shuttle...", Tom continued, "B'Elanna, can we manipulate the transporters? It must look like a serious problem..."  
"I think it should be possible."  
"As soon as we have freed Captain Antilles, we will attack."  
"We have a fleet of 3,000 careanic space hunters," Neelix added, "The Sacala will also help us..." Sacala was currently ruled by Queen Zara and they assumed she was interested in protecting her planet, "The Corellians will also help us and we have allies on Boonta. I'm still waiting for a feedback from the Mori system, but I'm sure they, too, will help."  
"All right," Kathryn agreed, "You should try to reach Harry in his honeymoon. If that's all, we'll start as early as possible."

They started with a shuttle the next morning at six a.m. Kathryn held her breath as Ophelia appeared in Carea's orbit. The ship really looked very similar to Voyager... Kathryn had reported to Admiral Paris yesterday evening, involved him in conversation and finally said she would like to visit Ophelia and see the ship´s modern drive. Owen Paris told he´d wait for her in an hour.  
"Now it´s counting," Mary said, who put on a rucksack in the back of the shuttle. Neelix did the same.  
"We're within range of their tractor beam," Chakotay said, steering the shuttle and this was the sign for Mary and Neelix to hide in the back of the small space ship. The shuttle landed in the shuttle bay and finally Kathryn, Chakotay and Sekaya descended.

They were a little puzzled because no one had come to welcome them.  
"I suggest we first go to the bridge," she Sekaya. Three of them left the shuttle bay.  
"I think we've been waiting long enough," Neelix whispered after fifteen minutes had passed. The shuttle's computer wasn´t shut down, just in case of emergency.  
"Agree," Mary nodded, "Let's go."  
They sneaked out of the shuttle and when they found a terminal inside the shuttle bay, Mary retrieved some data. "The corridor is empty," she whispered. She and Neelix stepped out and opened the access to a Jeffries tube. "I follow you," Mary said, "You know where the arrest cell is?"  
"Of course," Neelix replied. They needed about an hour, then they reached the end of the Jeffries tube, which ended right before the entrance to the prison cell. Neelix wanted to open the door, but Mary held him back. "No, wait," her voice was still quiet, "Ensign Hobbes is currently working in the arrest cell. It wouldn´t be very wise if he sees us. This would be the shortest mission ever."

Mary and Neelix waited until the Ensign had left the vestibule of the arrest cell. They were now alone in this part of the ship. Curiously Mary retrieved some data from the terminal and finally was confused. Neelix asked what was going on, but Mary entered the room where the arrested cell was. It was empty. "I receive data from Captain Antilles' communicator," the Talaxian noted as he glanced at his tricorder.  
"I think I can explain," Mary opened a drawer in the wall behind her, revealing the tricorder and the communicator of Captain Antilles. She knew what that meant. "We're too late," she said to Neelix, "The captain's dead."

As he had promised, Admiral Paris led them through the ship. They walked through the engineering and inspected the modified Warp core, but Kathryn didn´t miss the astonished looks of the crew members.  
"Does Lieutenant Torres want to modify your warp core?", the Admiral asked. "You could travel to Earth..."  
"No thanks. Our place is here", Kathryn replied.  
"My offer is still actual: When we return to Earth, we can take the crewmembers who want to come back home, even though you have decided to stay in this part of the galaxy."  
"My queen, I think that sounds like a good deal," Chakotay said, smiling at Kathryn. She thought he was really a good actor. After informing their crew about the occupation of Ophelia, no one would come along.  
"What would you like to see next?", the Admiral asked, joking about the fact there was no nursery station on Ophelia. Kathryn smiled politely, but inwardly she didn´t thought the stupid remark of the admiral was amusing.  
"How about your sick bay?", the queen asked, "The doctor asked me to give some PADDs to your doctor."  
"This is not possible," Admiral Paris said, "We were attacked during our journey by a species called Hirogen. Our sick bay is still very much affected."  
Of course Kathryn knew that, Mary had told her before. "We have crossed some edible crops in our laboratory and we could also show you how..."  
"That won´t be possible," the admiral's voice suddenly stopped sounding, "Our lab is also closed."

"On to part two of the plan," Mary told Neelix when she crawled again into the Jeffries tube, "We have to find the queen."  
After Mary closed the door to the Jeffries tube, she fixed an explosive set on the inside.

Kathryn hoped it wasn´t too obvious she would really like to see the lab. "How about breakfast?", Chakotay suggested. He saw that Owen Paris wanted to answer, but there was no longer the question: "Admiral, our guest has woken up," the bridge announced via Com.  
"I'm afraid you have to leave now," Admiral Paris said to them, signaling they should leave the engineering, "Counselor, please take the Queen and Captain Chakotay back to their shuttle."  
Sekaya nodded and led the two out of the engineering.  
"That the monster has woken up now makes things difficult," Kathryn whispered when they were alone, "And I'm afraid we can´t get very far with diplomacy." She didn´t understand why the Admiral didn´t ask for help. Together they could certainly find a solution for the problem...  
When they were out of sight of the engineering, Sekaya retrieved data at a terminal. Their plan was to cause explosions on the ship after they freed Captain Antilles and to inaugurate the crew on time. All 162 men and women would be in the saucer when the bombs exploded and the lab with the monster would be in the lower half of the ship. Voyager should then make sure that the saucer came safely to Carea, the fleet of the Sacala, Corellian, and Boonta (they were all waiting in space) would then drag the lower part of Ophelia into an abandoned part of the Solar System. This was at least the plan.  
"We should ask Neelix if they could find Captain Antilles," Chakotay suggested. His hand hovered over his communicator, but at that moment an explosion shook the ship and they were hurled against the wall.

"What was that?", Kathryn asked and at this moment some crew members hurried past them. The red alarm has been triggered. One of the heavily armed men ordered the computer to take the turbolift to deck 11. As in the case of Voyager, the lab on Ophelia was also on deck 11.  
"We should hurry and go back to the shuttle," Chakotay suggested. They were just about to turn around when they collided with Admiral Paris and two armed security guards.

Neelix and Mary, still in the Jeffries tube, were also shocked by the explosion. "Was that one of our blows?", Mary asked, puzzled, because they hadn´t even distributed them half the way down below the saucer, "If so, we must inform the Queen."  
Neelix remained in the narrow tube. He knew the Queen had forbidden them to get in touch with them as long as there were on board of Ophelia, but it was urgent. "Neelix to the queen," he said, tapping his communicator, but she didn´t answer. "Neelix to Captain Chakotay," he tried to reach Chakotay now, but he couldn´t be reached either. He looked at Mary very seriously, "We've flown."  
"This is definitely a problem," Mary said, "It's just a matter of time before they discover us."  
So it was time to call Voyager. Once again, Neelix reached for his communicator. "Neelix to Voyager. Tom, do you hear me?", he listened.

"Loud and clear, Neelix," Tom confirmed, who had stayed on board Voyager and was currently in command.  
"Commander, we're in big trouble. We assume the queen and the captain have flown. Just now there was a shock of the ship, but we have not yet activated our explosions. "  
"Can you give us five more minutes?", Tom asked. This was the time they needed to reach Ophelia with Voyager. Neelix confirmed, but the question was whether her second team would also have five minutes.

"So you know of the guest we're transporting on our ship?", Admiral Paris asked.  
"Stop calling it your guest. It´s a monster and you were hoping to expose it on my planet", Kathryn's voice sounded like a hiss, "If you had asked for help, we would have come to an acceptable solution for both sides."  
"It doesn´t matter," said Admiral Paris, "Our guest has just awakened from sleep and torn a hole into the outer shell of the ship. We'll lure it to one of the transporter rooms and then beam onto the surface of Carea."  
Sekaya and Kathryn couldn´t believe he had really said that.  
"Lieutenants," he turned to the heavily armed men standing behind him, "Take the Queen, the Captain and the Counselor to the Arrest Cell."  
The men nodded, but before they could take a step towards them, the two were shot from behind with two phasers, and when the admiral turned around, he was hit too. "Actually you should avoid the turbolifts," Chakotay exhorted Neelix and Mary when he saw them. They were still standing in the open doorway to a turbolift.

"We thought it wouldn´t matter if they notice us... Don´t worry, the phasers are set in anesthesia- mode." They walking in the direction of the saucer. Their shuttle would find the way home by remote-activated autopilot.  
"How many explosive devices could you distribute?", Kathryn wanted to know.  
"Not even half," Neelix replied, "We don´t know if it will work."  
"It's time to evacuate the crew," Mary suggested, tapping her communicator. "This is Ensign Mary Johnson speaking. All crew members immediately go to the saucer. I repeat: Immediately go to the saucer! The Admiral is hiding the monster, which has already implanted immense damage at the Headquarters of the Starfleet. All decks below deck 11 are locked. If you want to survive this, go to the saucer. Johnson out."  
While she spoke, a few astonished crew members passed by.  
"Do you already have idea what you're going if you ever return to Earth?", Chakotay wanted to know.  
"No," Mary Anne admitted, "To be honest, I don´t know if I want to go back there."  
"If you stay here, then you maybe want to join our crew…"

They were positioned at the last accesses to the saucer and counted the crewmembers who were walking past them. "Computer, how many crew members are on board the saucer?", Mary wanted to know from the main computer.  
"56," the mechanical voice replied.  
"That's a third of the crew!", Mary shouted in horror.  
"We have to ignite now," the captain replied, looking at Neelix, "Seal Deck 9 and then activate all explosive devices! You have 15 seconds before the countdown is over."  
Neelix pressed a button on a small box and a red light should light up, but nothing happened. "Something is wrong."

"We noticed that, too," Kathryn's eyes were sparkling in anger, "We have to go back!"  
"No, we won´t!"  
"We MUST destroy the ship!", Kathryn emphasized. Neelix wanted to say this wasn´t the right time for a dispute. Instead, he could watch Chakotay reach for his communicator. "Chakotay to Voyager," he heard Tom confirm, "Are you within range?"  
"Positive."  
"Hold me and the Queen all the time with the scanners so you can get us out."

With their tricorers, they desperately searched for the explosive device, which was mistaken. If they succeeded in repairing the defective device, the remote ignition would also work.  
Kathryn just scanned an explosive set, which was attached to the ceiling when she heard a loud noise. She turned around to see if it was the man-eating monster, but then she had to protect her head when a shot almost missed her.  
"I'm unarmed!," she shouted at the attacker and when Chakotay realized what was happening, he was right next to her. They saw Admiral Paris who was armed with a phaser gun and dragged along the corridor.  
It wasn´t a good idea to come without weapons.  
Kathryn didn´t see Chakotay's hands scurrying over the small display, which was responsible for controlling the turbolift. The only problem was that the turbolift had now failed. Obviously, the hole in the outer shell caused a massive loss of energy.

He tore open the cladding of a service shaft and pulled out a tight rope, a cable, a maintenance kit, and two fixtures with which he could manually lift the doors of the turbolift. He hurriedly fastened the cable to a magnet device that otherwise kept the turbolift's cabin in operation, then got into the maintenance equipment and finally threw the rope down into the depths of the dark shaft.  
"Come!", He reached out for his wife and she climbed without hesitation into the empty turbolift shaft. Kathryn had to hold on him I fshe didn´t want to fall.  
"What are you doing?", she asked.  
"We will escape through the shaft of the turbolift...!"  
"But...! We need to go back to…", she saw how a door opened at the other end of the corridor and a creature with leathery skin and eight long, wildly beating arms crawling out. It tore open its gigantic mouth and swallowed the admiral with a bite.  
Kathryn screamed and she wished she hadn´t done this, because now the monster had noticed her and Chakotay. In rage it steered towards them.  
"Hold on tight," Chakotay warned her and Kathryn yelled again when they plunged into the depths.

Kathryn's shriek still echoed in Chakotay's ears as he stopped the fall with the cable. He thought the training in the mountaineering simulation on the Holodeck had paid off quite well. Nevertheless, he and Kathryn hit the wall of the empty turbolift shaft ungently.  
"Where are we?", she asked.  
Chakotay looked around searchingly. His eyes still needed a moment to get used to the darkness. "Deck 12." Their fall had begun below Deck Nine. A few more decks and they would have hit the ground. They wouldn´t have survived someone seemed to be pulling on the rope, Kathryn almost lost the grip. They looked up and saw two long tentacles that tore at the steel and shook it. They also heard a sound which sounded like an angry grumble.

"Don´t look up!", Chakotay said to her but this advice was very late.  
"I can´t hold on you for long," she said. Her hands clung to Chakotay's upper body and she threatened to slip further and further. The tugging stopped. "Perhaps you don´t have to," he calmed her and began to swing his entire body back and forth. Kathryn stopped breathing, because she really didn´t know how long she could hold on. Finally, he managed to reach the emergency ladder in the Turbolift shaft with one hand. His feet stepped on a narrow ledge. Kathryn also managed to reach for the ladder. They both breathed hard. At that moment, the door leading to the empty turbocharger on deck 12 was torn apart and again they heard the furious roar of the monster.  
"Chakotay to Voyager," he tapped again on his communicator, this time in a hurry, "Take the Queen and me out."  
"Aye sir," they heard Tom answer before they dissolved into the depths of the shaft.

"Are you all right?", Mary asked as they re-materialized in Voyager's transporter room. Kathryn was relieved that Neelix, Sekaya and Mary had managed to escape from Ophelia in time. Even Commander Paris had taken the trouble to get into the transporter room.  
"Tom, we're sorry," Kathryn's voice almost surpassed. "The admiral was eaten alive by the monster."  
He tried to say something and tried to be caught, but he wasn´t in shock.  
"Status?", Chakotay asked now.

"You must activate the devices, then..."  
"Tom, this should be a problem: We didn´t manage to fix it. First your father disturbed us and then the monster."  
Kathryn knew what that meant: The deadly being would eat everyone on board Ophelia alive.  
"I have an idea," Tom said suddenly and together they went to the bridge. They entered to a fifth in a turbolift. "We don´t need the remote ignition. We can do it from here."  
There was a red alarm when they entered the bridge. Chakotay took the Captain's seat and Kathryn sat next to him. This didn´t disturb Tom, because he wanted to fly Voyager in this battle in person. He ordered Samantha, who was still sitting at Harry's station, to fire at the area connecting the saucer to the rest of the smaller part of the ship. A chain of several small explosions tore the ship in two.  
"Is working," Ensign Johnson told who occupied the OPS, "But both parts are badly damaged."  
"How many lives are on board the lower half?", Kathryn wanted to know.  
"67," Samantha replied, "One of them is not human."  
Kathryn knew this meant the monster had swallowed not only the admiral, but just another 40 crewmembers.  
"Voyager to the Corellia fleet," said Chakotay, "Capture the saucer of the ship with your beam and take it to Carea. We will drag the rest into the space with our tractor beam. The Carean space hunter accompany us. "  
They saw on the main screen how the Corellia fleet was taking care of the saucer. As previously discussed, they dragged the ship into the outer part of the solar system. Only the second and third planets were inhabited. The last planets were giants of gas who drew their lonely paths far from their central star.  
Finally, Chakotay ordered the tractor beam to be turned off and the torpedoes to be charged. With it last swing, the wreck of Ophelia drew on them.  
"Fire!"  
The torpedoes didn´t miss the target, and the lower half of Ophelia was torn into pieces. "Life's signs?", Chakotay asked, turning round to ensign Wildman. "None," she confirmed.  
They canceled the red alert and though they had managed to save Carea and all the planets around, they flew home with a strange feeling.

With shaking hands Mary Anne Johnson stepped behind the desk, which stood on the marble staircase leading to the royal palace. She tried to hold onto the lectern in front of her, knowing that the speech wasn´t only send to the inhabitants of Carea but also to the Starfleet. "I can make it. I can make it," she said to herself in thoughts again and again.  
Gray, heavy clouds hung over the capital Berra. It was autumn and also on Carea the weather at this time of the year was sometimes a bit whimsy.  
"I am Ensign Mary Anne Johnson," she began her speech, "I came to this planet with the best intentions. When the ship which took me here almost arrived, I realized that the Starfleet was hiding a monster aboard and I quickly discovered the true plan of my superiors. The plan was to expose this monster on Carea", Mary Anne heard a whisper through the audience gathering in the large square in front of the palace, "If the plan had been successful, none of us would stand here…. Captain Wye Antilles also came behind the dark plan of the Starfleet. He and a lot of crewmembers found death to prevent the monster would reach this planet", she paused, "For this reason, Her Royal Highness, Queen Kathryn of Carea, speaks to you."  
She stepped back from the desk and gave Kathryn her place. Mary went to the other senior officers, who were also on the steps to the palace. "You did that very well," Neelix whispered to her.

The senior officers wore their official gala uniform, as well as the politicians and rulers of the planets Corellia, Boonta, Sacala and Mor, the Mori planet. Princess Aeria sat on the arm of her father, who was standing in the front row behind the desk, waiting tensely.  
A figure in a fire-red, elegant dress now stood behind the podium. Her red-blond hair and the shining diadem on her head complemented her appearance perfectly. She wore the pendant Chakotay gave her on a necklace.  
"As you already know, the devastating attack has been thwarted. We know, however, it´s quite possible that even more ships will come." When Kathryn said this, she saw Cierra, Millah, and Chakotay's mother, Vana, who were sitting in the first row of the audience. Vana had her granddaughter Riehsa on the arm. "Today, we are standing together to tell you no matter what happens, we will do everything to save our homeworlds. But I won´t tolerate options which lead us to war. This is our home. And we will ensure this will be a peaceful place for all future generations."  
With this Kathryn finished her speech and the audience began to applaud. The Queen stepped back from the desk and went up the stairs to the palace. The Voyager- crew followed her.

It would take about a month for them to receive a response from the official speech. While they had to wait, Kathryn secretly asked if this had been right and Chakotay encouraged her she couldn´t have done better. She had signaled she´d never accept such behavior.  
Two weeks later they spend a day at the beach. The weather was less moody and the sun was burning. Today was perfect weather for a visiting the sea. When they reached the beach, Chakotay insisted to go for a little walk. "That's all right," Vana said to them, "Sekaya and I take care of the children."

Aeria and Naomi were happy. Chakotay thanked his mother and didn´t allow his wife to contradict. He grabbed her hand and they left. When they were out of sight, he put an arm around her and almost by chance his hand stroked her skin as they walked across the wet sand. "What about swimming?", he asked. "It's pretty hot today."  
"Swimming is forbidden at this point of the beach," Kathryn explained, looking at him, "But maybe you want a Carean shark bites you." She laughed, but then she looked very worried again.  
"You should not make such a face," Chakotay suggested.  
"I'm still thinking about the speech we sent to the Starfleet," she admitted, "What if they actually send more ships?"  
"If they understand your message, they won´t dare to deal with you... Actually, you missed to say in your message something like _Get off of my planet_ …"

"Now you sneer at me…", she said, "Will your mother and sister actually stay with us in Berra?"

"I think so", Chakotay replied, "Do you mind?"

"No", Kathryn was honest, "No, I…. So… Your mother knows everything… Sometimes I think she´s able to read my mind." Vana even knew that Kathryn was a bit worried about Aeria: Naomi was the only child in the same age she had as friend. Vana said, Riehsa could be a new play pal as soon as she was able to sit in an upright position. And she also said, she was glad, Kathryn wasn´t that kind of queen who only walked on roses or took care of how she looked. And she was glad Kathryn tried to treat both kids as equal.  
A male voice now came over the communication system. "Captain, where are you?", It was clearly Tom, "We're here, too. And we brought Harry with us."  
"Looks like everyone's been happily reunited," he concluded, smiling at Kathryn and they hurried back to the group that was already waiting for them on the beach. Kathryn took her baby on her arm.  
Harry and his wife looked well recovered. Both had spent their honeymoon on the planet Mariana and Harry reported he had seen an official event on Carea in the media about one week ago. Because the Marian population was very interested in gossip, they then discussed a photo of Kathryn and Chakotay, which showed them at the entrance of the palace. In the photo, they held hands as they went up the stairs to the palace, but they looked very serious. Of course it didn´t happen for the first time that they were a victim of the yellow press.  
"What did I miss?", Harry asked, "Tom just told me about your experiences and I expect you to leave no details."

"We'll tell you."  
They walked across the wet sand and Chakotay turned to his mother again. "Aren´t you coming with us?", he asked her.  
"No, you go," she smiled and watched how the group slowly moved away from her. Chakotay put an arm around Kathryn. She also put an arm around him while the baby was sleeping in her other arm.  
Aeria and Naomi hurriedly ran after a seagull flying across the beach. "Grandma, look!", Aeria cried, waving to her grandmother, "That's a huge gull!"  
Vana waved back.  
The group walked a little further and a wave of cool water came towards them. Aeria shrieked, so her father lifted her to his arm. The little girl looked over his shoulder and waved her grandmother again, but this time Vana didn´t wave back.  
"Daddy, what about Grandma?", Aeria asked and Chakotay turned around, "She doesn´t wave anymore."  
He and Kathryn exchanged a worried look, then they went with Sekaya to the place where Vana was sitting. "Mother?", Sekaya asked anxiously, kneeling before her. Vana didn´t react.

One week later Vana's funeral took place. The doctor was sad to tell them that she had died of another heart attack.  
After the funeral, Voyager's senior officers met in the Royal Family's home. Harry's wife just held Miral in her arms. "She's a very cute baby," she said to B'Elanna. "It's a pity Harry and I will never have children." Leila was a form-walker and B'Elanna suspected they weren´t compatible.  
"There is always a way," Kathryn suddenly said who held Riehsa in her arm, "You still remember the baby we saved from Sembra Prime? As far as I know, the little boy still hasn´t found a family that wants to adopt him and I think you can do."  
"This is a fabulous idea," B'Elanna agreed and Leila was so excited that she had to hand the baby back to her mother. "I'll talk to Harry right away," Leila said.  
"At least one happy family," Kathryn remarked when she saw Leila talking to Harry.  
"What's about yours?", B'Elanna had hit the bull's eye, because since the death of his mother, a dark veil lay over Chakotay and Sekaya. "I had actually planned to ask Chakotay if we could adopt the senator's son, but...", Kathryn looked at Leila and Harry again, "...they need that more urgently." So they would bear Aerias begging for a while that she also wanted a little brother after she had already received a little sister.  
"I better go and look for my husband." She left the senior officers behind and went out into the garden. The long black dress she wore was a large contrast to the garden, still shining in the colors of the autumn sun.

Finally, she found what she had been looking for: Chakotay sat alone on a bench, staring out at the pond and the weeping willow that was standing on the middle of a small isolated island. She sat down next to him and leaned against him. Lovingly, she stroked his back with her right hand while she held her baby with the other hand. Aeria had set out to pick flowers. There soon would be no more flowers in the palace garden if she continued like this.  
"I'm so terribly sorry," Kathryn said, gently pressing a kiss on his cheek. Kathryn wished, she could do something to lessen his pain. She knew he would do exactly the same for her. They stayed like this until Kathryn finally asked him to hold the baby for a while. Riehsa smiled at her father as he took her into his arm.  
"Come with me. I have something for you", Kathryn suddenly said and she realized he didn´t understand what was going on. In their living room their friends were waiting. Kathryn sat down with Chakotay on the couch and Aeria next to him. "Why do I have the feeling you surround me?", he asked, and as he looked at Aeria's grinning face, he noticed his guess had to be right.

"When Kathryn and I took care of Mother's things, we found two letters hidden between her clothes. One of the letters is for the eventuality she would not have seen you again before she dies. The other one…", Sekaya said and Kathryn reached for his hand, "We both read it and cried a lot."

"Your mother wrote how relieved she is you have found someone who makes you happy", B'Elanna said and the doctor added: "She also noticed you flirt very often with each other." When he said that, they had to laugh, although they didn´ mind.  
"She wrote the spirits in the sky wanted you to life here and you should try to see the good in this," Tom said.  
"And she wrote she is very grateful to have seen you for a last time and she is grateful to get to know her grandchildren and the queen," Neelix said.  
"She is very proud of you", Now it was Leila's turn, "Very proud of what you have become."  
"In the letter is also a small parcel. Your sister opened it. Inside is a picture frame where she keeps the photo you sent her", Harry reported, and they were all looking forward to his reaction.

"So you've read the letter?", Chakotay asked and they all nodded. Then he turned to Kathryn: "Could you hold Riehsa?"  
"Of course," she said, putting the baby on her lap. At that moment, Chakotay wrapped an arm around her and around Aeria and pulled them close. "I love you very much," he said to them.  
Suddenly a voice came over Com. "Voyager to Captain Chakotay," said Ayala, "I'm sorry if I am disturbing you, but you and the senior officers should come here."  
"The normal madness has brought us back," Harry said.  
"What's normal?" Tom asked when they all went to the door and finally went to their ship.

Fin?


	15. Triangle I

Title: Triangle I  
Author: Dancing Star  
Pairing: Janeway / Chakotay  
Rating: 16  
Category: AU, Romance  
Content: A spaceship drifts aimlessly through space and threatens to collide with Carea.  
Comments: So, the story continues. I hope you did not think that's over?

Triangle I

"Thank you for taking me with you," Harry told Tom when they both shinned up a cliff on Voyagers holodeck.  
"You´re welcome", Tom found a halt on a rocky edge and put his left foot on it, "Usually the captain comes along." This time he couldn´t persuade him, but Harry almost insisted to accompany Tom during a multi-hour climbing excursion. Of course, Tom was curious what the reason was.  
"Are there any problems, Harry?"  
"How do you get that?," Harry also found halt in a ledge.  
Tom laughed. "Listen, that was obvious!" He didn´t see how Harry rolled his eyes.  
"All right," the young man finally admitted, "It's the baby. Sian is crying all the time. He cries at night and he also cries during the day. He´s a pain in the neck. I had to leave for a couple of hours." Sian was the little son of the Senator of Sembra Prime. Leila and Harry adopted him. "Leila and I have hardly a moment left for us."  
"I can´t imagine that," Tom replied.  
Harry rolled his eyes again.

"Do you think it was wrong to adopt the baby?", the Commander asked now.  
"No, I...", Harry was looking for another chance to cling to the steep cliff, "I love my son. But I imagined it would be a little easier."  
Tom wanted to say he should think about Leila, but they were interrupted by a contact attempt of the bridge: "Bridge to holodeck one."  
"Speak, Ensign Johnson," Tom replied.  
"Commander, I have a strange signal from a Trill- ship." The Trill were a people who enjoyed trading. They were a friendly humanoid species, but as far as Mary knew, not much was known about them. "The ship heads straight for Carea and I've already tried to contact them. They don´t react."  
Tom and Harry stopped their climbing immediately. "How many signs of life are on board?"  
"I can´t tell from this distance," Mary replied, "They are about a light-year away from us."  
Voyager was currently still in orbit of Carea, since they had just returned from Sacala. "Have you already reached the General?", Tom asked.  
"No, his communicator is in Do Not Disturb- mode. I also thought I'd get in touch with you first because you're already on board..."  
"Call the General, Ensign, and program an intercept course. Lieutenant Kim and I make our way to the bridge." Tom finished the holodeck program and Harry seemed relieved.

Sekaya steered her black horse over an obstacle and the animal jumped over it gracefully. She hoped Kathryn wasn´t angry with her for borrowing her horse, and she tried to whitewash by telling herself that Serena needed a little extra exercise.  
Aeria sat on the edge of the obstacle course and clapped her hands when the horse jumped over an obstacle again. Her aunt waved back and slowed the black thoroughbred. She stopped the horse in front of the group, consisting of Aeria, Cierra, Millah and Princess Riehsa.  
The year almost came to an end, but there were still sunny days on Carea. So they didn´t mind to sit outside. The black horse put her velvety nose into the hands of Aeria and snorted. The princess chuckled softly.  
"I think we should finish for today," Sekaya said, "Serena is getting tired." She patted the black horse's neck approvingly.  
"Voyager to Counselor Sekaya," a female voice said and Sekaya instantly recognized Mary Anne Johnson.  
"Go ahead," Sekaya tapped on the communicator she wore on her vest.  
"Counselor, you should come to Voyager. I caught a signal from the Trill..."  
Sekaya had no idea who they were. She only lived in this part of the galaxy for two months. Ensign Johnson, however, had settled in well.  
"Alright. I'm on my way", Sekaya got out of the horse's saddle and immediately Cierra and Millah rose with the princesses from their seat in the grass. "Have you already reached the General?"  
"That's a problem," Mary Anne Johnson hesitated, "His communicator is in Do Not Disturb- mode. If you don´t know where your brother is, I'll have to wait for the commander to reach him. Commander Paris is already on his way, but I... "  
"Keep trying. I'll be right with you."

"Not so fast," Kathryn gasped when the hot water ran over her body and she desperately tried to keep her hands on the wet surface of the shower. A thick cloud of steam was now in the bathroom.  
"I can´t wait anymore", Chakotay pushed her long hair aside, pressed a kiss on her neck and started moving. She gasped and closed her eyes. His hands slid to her hips and led her. Kathryn threatened to lose her mind, though she wanted it to last as long as possible.  
"Voyager to the Captain," a voice said via communicator, and they recognized the person.  
"I´ll KILL HIM!", Chakotay cursed.  
"Don´t stop," Kathryn's voice was nothing more than a light sob before he released their intimate fusion and reached for his communicator lying on a dresser outside her shower. "I hope it's important, Commander," his voice sounded angry, his blood was still rushing through his veins.  
On Voyager, Tom and Harry exchanged a worried look. "Captain, we're on the bridge, receiving a signal from a Trill- ship." The two officers also wondered if the captain was near a waterfall because they heard a rushing noise.  
Kathryn stood close to him and listened to what they were discussing.  
"We've checked the signal and it´s better if you come to the bridge," Tom said, "Paris out." He ended the communication.  
"I wonder what's so important."  
Kathryn gently caressed his back with one hand, then reached for a towel to wrap around her body. Chakotay watched her attentively. Kathryn wiped her long, wet hair with a towel and was visibly disappointed. "You owe me something," she remarked.

As soon as the captain was aboard Voyager, the pilot of the ship programmed an intercept course. The Trill were usually friendly people and that's why Mary Johnson found it strange they brought a fleet of 300 yellow Carian space hunters. She had also heard a discussion between Commander Paris and the Captain because the Queen was eager to escort them, but her husband insisted her to stay in the palace on Carea with the children.  
"The ship is within range," Harry informed the bridge crew, triggering a yellow alarm. He occupied the security station and immediately a huge spaceship appeared on the main screen. When Mary saw the gigantic ship, she understood why they had to bring the fleet.  
"Call them," Tom turned to the officer on the OPS and he answered the ship was unresponsive. "I can´t detect any signs of life," Harry reported, "Their shields are disabled and they seemingly spin through space."  
"That's right," Mary confirmed, who had switched from Navigation to OPS before their departure. She calculated the course of the ship and put a map on half of the main screen. "The gravity of Caressa has brought it on track to Carea."  
"How long will it take to collide with our planet?"  
"About two days." They knew they had to prevent the collision.  
"Call them again," Chakotay told Harry.  
"You don´t answer, Sir."  
"Their shields are disabled, right?", He asked, reaffirming Harry. Tom wondered what he was up to. "We will go on board."  
An alarm sounded in Mary's console. "Captain, I discovered a second Trill- ship. They don´t spin aimlessly through space and their ships aren´t disabled either."  
"We're called," said Harry.  
"Go ahead", Chakotay wondered what the Captain of the Trill- ship had to say.

"Good day, I am General Chakotay…"

"I am glad to meet you", the captain of the Trill- Ship was a young, blond man, "I am Captain Scha'al and I suppose you already have our ship on the screen. We ask you not to go on board. "  
"May I ask why not?", Tom wanted to know.  
"Something strange has happened to the crew," the captain replied. "We have a guess, because another of our ships was found floating around aimlessly just a few days ago. We don´t know yet what happened to the crew."  
"Are you alright?"  
"I think we'll talk about it and I'll show you as soon as our ship is under control."

Kathryn caught her breath as she glanced out of the mess hall´s window and saw two huge Trill ships. After Voyager returned to Careas orbit, she insisted on being beamed aboard. "I've never seen a ship of the Trill," she confessed, "They're known to stay mostly among themselves." If it was known how the Trill looked like and what ships they flew, then it was a lot Kathryn thought to herself. She didn´t believe there was anyone who knew about their customs.  
In the background she saw her home planet Carea, a small blue globe with two continents.  
"Captain Scha'al said the ship doesn´t present hazard," Chakotay told her.  
They made their way to the meeting room, where the senior officers were already waiting for them. As Chakotay could see, the captain had already met Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, and Neelix. As always, the doctor had joined them via a communication system. Kathryn had linked her arm with Chakotay when they entered the meeting room.

"Captain, this is the Queen of Carea," he said, and Captain Scha'al bowed to Kathryn.  
"Nice to meet you, Your Majesty," he said, then sat down at the long table, "I have to apologize for the fact that our ship drove aimlessly through space and went on a collision course with Carea."  
"You said you have an idea what happened to the crew," Tom reminded, sitting across from Captain Scha'al. Meanwhile, Captain Scha'al had also sent a few of his people aboard and his guess had been confirmed.

"The same happened to the crew of another Trill- ship. Unfortunately, we can´t say right now what's causing all the crewmembers to turn into babies. "  
Harry thought it made sense now that no one had responded to Voyager's attempts of contact.  
"This time over 1,700 people were affected. When it first happened it hit a ship with 1800 people. When we found it floating in space, only 1500 were on board." The captain told them the 300 missing persons themselves were only children. If there was a power out there which was able to put life forms back into their early childhood, then a residue of tissue was left of the children.  
Kathryn thought it was extremely disturbing that the captain had no idea why this happened. "Is there anyone hostile to the Trill?", she asked, wondering if she had heard of similar events lately. So far, however, only the Trill seemed to be affected.  
"Usually the Trill travel through space in large groups," the captain reported, looking at Chakotay. Kathryn was a little annoyed that he ignored her.  
"However, this danger forces us to stay in our already overpopulated homeworld or even travel through space for years without our families. I prefer option one because my son is only one year old… Do you have kids, General?", Scha'al suddenly asked.  
"Two daughters," Chakotay replied.  
"Then you can certainly understand my position. And as long as this danger lurks on the Trill, I can´t take my family along for my travels. That's why I'm tied to Trill."

Kathryn and Chakotay found it uncomfortable to compare the family with shackles that kept him at home.  
"It would be helpful if I could look at some of the affected crew members," the doctor suddenly suggested, "So maybe I can say how long this condition will last."  
"That's very kind of you," said Captain Scha'al, "But it won´t be necessary. The crew members of our first affected ship were picked up two weeks ago. They're still babies now, if I'm properly informed."  
"At least let us help you figure out why or how your crew members were turned into babies," Tom suggested. He guessed this idea was in the Queen's and Captain's terms, because they certainly wanted to be prepared.  
Captain Scha'al had to admit his ships were actually build for collecting Deuterium and less concerned with biology. "I accept your help," he gratefully agreed.

When the meeting was over, Kathryn was still annoyed that Captain Scha'al didn´t pay much attention to her, but rather talked to the male officers.  
She followed them with a little distance and when she left the conference room, she watched from the corner of her eye how Mary Anne at the navigation console's checked a course, which had been traversed by the Trill- ship. "I'll be right there," she said to Chakotay, waiting until he and Harry had left the bridge. Then she slowly came to Mary Anne, who dropped the map from her display when she noticed Kathryn.  
"I've seen the map long ago and I think everyone on the bridge has it."  
"Sorry," Mary looked concerned, then showed her the star chart again. Tom came to them as well. "I thought it would be good to know which course the Trill- ship traveled."  
"You only get this information when you tap their on-board computer," Tom said.  
"Sorry, Commander."  
"I'm willing to ignore this if you let us know where the Trill ship was."  
A smile of relief crossed Mary's face and she turned back to her console. "They started on their home planet and set course for the Anoan system." The star Anoan was a red giant who would devour all planets in its solar system in a few years. "After that, the ship passed Boonta and then it was heading for the Alpha Quadrant." Mary now enlarged part of the star chart on her Display.

"Apparently they renewed their energy reserves at a kind of space station. Two days later, they began drifting aimlessly through space until they entered the gravitational field of Caressa, the central star of our solar system."  
"Whatever happened to the ship must have happened at this point," Tom said, "I wish we could see if the other Trill- ship was in this region as well."

The sensors reported the Trill- ship didn´t present hazard, so they allowed the spacecraft to dock in a hangar on Carea. The technicians were in high spirits because although the hangar was huge, the ship only fit in when the roof was wide open.  
From his hiding place Tom could watch the landing very well. Although Ensign Johnson offered to get the data he needed, Tom thought she should dirty her hands. They also knew the Trill wouldn´t give them the information voluntarily. So he more or less agreed to pay a visit to the Trill ship. He waited for a moment, when everyone was busy with the arrival of this huge spaceship. Previously, he had borrowed a thick long coat in the fund of the palace guards.  
The technicians and some Voyager crew members scrambled around the spaceship. Tom pulled his hood over his head. At that moment, a figure touched his shoulder. "What are you doing?"

He recognized the voice of his wife exactly.

"Don´t worry," he tried to reassure her, "I'll pay a small visit to the Trill ship."  
"Dressed like a thief? Does the captain know about it?"  
"No, and that won´t change in the next few minutes."  
"Whose idea was that?", B'Elanna asked, unable to believe he had already condescended to this.  
"Maybe we'll talk about it when you've calmed down," Tom suggested, "Never." He saw that his wife was slightly annoyed. "It was my idea," while they talked, he kept looking worriedly at the trill ship. Tom saw a small unattended hatch at the bow of the ship.  
"I beg you, don´t do that. I have a very bad feeling."  
"Don´t worry," he repeated, leaving his stunned wife behind.

The technicians who welcomed the ship and the Voyager crewmembers who finally entered the spacecraft would never forget the picture that came with them. Upon their arrival on the ship, they spotted the crew, which had been turned into babies without exception. Because there was no one to take care of so many babies, none of them was alive. They were all starving and dying of thirst.  
Chakotay was among the people who checked the Trill ship and decided that Kathryn was not allowed to see this under any circumstances. He called Voyager's officers for a meeting that evening. "How are the people who entered the space freighter?", Chakotay wanted to know from his sister.

"Many of them need psychological care," Sekaya replied. He had told them at the beginning of the meeting what they had found on the Trill- ship.  
"I don´t understand," B'Elanna said, "Who or what is strong enough to turn the crew of an entire ship into children?"  
"No matter what it is, it's in space behind Boonta," Tom replied, and everyone present looked very surprised. Everyone, but Kathryn and B'Elanna.  
"What are you trying to say?"

They told him that Tom had sneaked aboard the Trill ship and checked the logs. This didn´t necessarily lift Chakotay's mood. He sent Sekaya, Harry, Neelix, and Samantha Wildman out of the meeting room, and the doctor also ended the com-connection. Tom wanted to join them as well.  
"You stay, Commander," Chakotay held him back. He finally stopped in front of Tom and crossed his arms over his chest.  
"Could you please repeat that?", he asked.  
"I was aboard the Trill ship," Tom confirmed. While he also crossed his arms over his chest, Kathryn placed herself between the two. She carefully reached for her husband's wrists to calm him. "That's alright, it was my idea."  
"What?", Chakotay was confused for a moment.  
"So, whose idea was it?", B'Elanna asked.  
"That doesn´t matter anymore," Kathryn's voice was very calm as she looked at Chakotay. He also sent Tom and B'Elanna out as well. He and Kathryn stayed alone in the meeting room.  
"I don´t think it was your idea," he said and Kathryn's eyes narrowed.

"What are you trying to say?" She would never tell him it was actually Mary Johnson's idea and she gratefully hopped on the bandwagon.  
"You are a diplomat, interested in maintaining peace in your part of the galaxy," he sat down on the edge of the tabletop. Kathryn crossed her arms across her chest as they argued, "You know the Trill would never tell us where their first spaceship was when all crewmembers were turned into babies."

"That doesn´t give us the right to steal the information. If the Trill find out, that could be a problem", Chakotay's face looked very serious, "I'm surprised I have to explain it to you. I expected at least you to think a little bit."  
They continued their argument on the way to the transporter room, because the ambassador of the Trill had announced. "I know what I'm doing," she assured him, her eyes sparkling with anger. They didn´t notice that they were meeting Naomi on the way, who wanted to know from Neelix why the queen was angry at the captain.  
Before Kathryn and Chakotay entered the transporter room, they decided not to show they had a dispute.

It had to have happened in space behind Boonta, it was sure: Both ships were in this region of space as anything or anyone had turned the crew into babies. The Trill Ambassador invited himself to his own reception on Voyager.  
Kathryn thought it didn´t matter if she showed up or not, because the ambassador wouldn´t probably talk to her anyway. She and B'Elanna stood aloof when Tom and Chakotay spoke to the trill. B'Elanna, too, seemed a little annoyed the Trill regarded women as the weaker gender and treated them like this. She finished her glass of Trillian Ale with a sip and asked Kathryn if it was possible that a Q could have turned the crew into babies. The only problem was they didn´t think of any absurd reason why a Q should do that.  
The men laughed and at the same time B'Elanna and Kathryn rolled their eyes.  
"General, I wanted to ask you a question," Captain Scha'al began, "You don´t have to answer, but..." he pointed with his empty glass to the kitchenette, where Kathryn and B'Elanna were still standing, "The Queen. I noticed you are very familiar with her. From that I conclude you know her well. Is there someone she is connected to?"  
When they heard this question, Tom turned to Harry and the doctor and made a face that signaled them to leave as quickly as possible.  
"She is my wife," Chakotay answered, "And we often connect." He felt jealous when Captain Scha'al showed interest in Kathryn, and the fact they had argued today didn´t change that. Instead of apologizing for this faux pas, Captain Scha'al behaved as if nothing had happened.

The Trill ambassador had come from his home planet to tell them they would take the ship back as soon as possible. There was nothing left for them to do but they had to accept. It was just a pity they couldn´t find out what exactly had happened in such a short time. During the reception, the Trill ambassador even invited them to the commemoration of the deceased crew members, but Chakotay refused. (Tom had told them he also found a record of the funeral rations in the Trill's logbook and it revealed that the Trill didn´t treat their dead with modesty.)  
They didn´t stay long at the reception, which was also due to the fact that women didn´t tolerate the Trillian Ale very well. Also B'Elanna, Ensign Wildman and Sekaya quickly struggled with their balance after consuming the drink.  
Chakotay opened the door for her and grabbed her hand as Kathryn clung to the doorknob. "I have to lie down for a while," Kathryn said, staggering into the bedroom.  
"Maybe you should drink a little water," Chakotay suggested, taking care of a glass for her. Then he came to her and sat down beside her on the bed. She lay with his eyes closed on his side.  
"I can´t," Kathryn lay crumpled on her side, holding onto the pillow and she feared it would end badly when she opened her eyes, "The entire planet is turning in the wrong direction. Better, I stay that way."  
"There is a problem: You are lying on my side. Where should I sleep today?"  
"I didn´t know you were so picky."  
"No, I´m not," he wanted to say something else, but she had suddenly fallen asleep. He would have liked to tell her that he wasn´t angry anymore because they had stolen some sensitive information from the Trill.

Voyager was still orbiting Carea, and Kathryn thought it was some kind of lurking- position: They lurked until the Trill- ship left the hangar and finally the solar system. Then they headed for Boonta.  
"I don´t think it's a good idea for you and the kids to come along," Chakotay told his wife.  
"And I think it's an excellent idea," she said and hated that kind of discussion. A feeling told her it was safer on Voyager right now. "I'm not the sort of woman who´s waiting for her husband at home all day."  
"I never asked you to do that", now it was up to him to dissent. He turned to face her and looked into her eyes. Chakotay knew she wouldn´t change her mind. So he gave in.  
When they reached the sector of Boonta, they found an asteroid field. They tried to dodge the asteroid. "Ensign, are our coordinates correct?", Tom, seated in the commander's chair, asked.  
"Yes... no... I mean ...", Mary was currently busy avoiding the asteroid.  
"Where's Boonta?", Tom looked at the OPS. They left the asteroid field and the ship stopped swinging.  
"I have Boonta on the screen. If the sensors are correct, then we were wrong in the course", Ensign Wildman informed, who occupied the OPS. Mary Johnson looked horrified at her navigation check. "That's impossible!", she called.  
"Alright, Ensign," Chakotay tried to reassure her, "You were wrong. That's human." He suspected, however, that she was grieving inwardly. "Harry, get in touch with the government of Boonta. Ask them if they can send us a research ship."  
"Aye." Harry immediately did what the captain wanted. While he was busy, the door to the turbolift opened and Kathryn entered. She had been in her quarters during the trip, but the turbulence had lured her out. "Status?", she asked.  
"We'll reach Boonta soon," Chakotay informed her and stopped in front of her.  
"I've contacted the Boonta government," said Harry, "They send us a ship."  
"Excellent. Lieutenant, you accompany me to welcome our visit."  
Harry left his station and was immediately replaced by Ayala. He and Chakotay stopped in front of the turbolift. "Tom, you're coming with us as well," Chakotay commanded, "Ensign Wildman, you have the bridge."  
The blond woman nodded.

"What's wrong?", Harry asked at that moment. He felt a faint vibration beneath his feet. "I feel it, too," Chakotay confirmed.  
"What do you mean?", although Kathryn stood right next to him, she noticed nothing. Slowly the vibration became stronger under Chakotay and Harry's feet. With the last of his strength left, Chakotay pushed Kathryn far away before the ship was hit by a glistening beam of energy, turning him and Harry into babies.


	16. Triangle II

Title: Triangle II  
Author: Dancing Star  
Pairing: Janeway / Chakotay  
Rating: 16  
Category: AU, Romance  
What happens: Harry and Chakotay were transformed into babies by an unknown power.  
Notes: The other day in my office, a colleague was very astonished about an index card that I had hung up at my desk. "What would Captain Janeway do?" As a leading person, you sometimes need a bit of input.

Triangle II

Kathryn stumbled backwards and was saved by Tom, who also wanted to make his way to the Turbolift. She thought she didn´t believe her eyes when she saw two little babies lying on the floor. She quickly ran to them. Both infants were male and one of them was of Asian, while the other had the bronze skin, black hair and the tattoo of her husband.

"Report!", Tom exclaimed.

"I can´t tell what happened!", Samantha Wildman sounded stressed, "It was... some kind of energy output that... To be honest, I have no idea where it came from."  
"Damage report?"  
"No obvious damage, sir," Ayala replied, "All stations work normally."  
"That can´t be," Tom said to himself. He held on to the console in front of Ayala with both hands, "The Captain and Harry are the only crewmembers turned into babies?"  
"Confirm," the dark-haired man said. Tom now looked at Kathryn, who was holding one of the babies in her arms now, trying to calm it down because it was crying a lot. He went to her and took the Harry- baby on his arm. "We should see the doctor," he decided and she nodded in agreement. "Samantha, call Harry's wife," Tom delegated, before leaving the bridge. Leila stayed at home at Carea, "Tell her there is an emergency and she should come... And call the Trill. We still have a serious word to talk."

An hour later, when the doctor scanned the two infants again and again, he was puzzled. Kathryn thought that wasn´t a very good sign. "Physically, they are healthy babies," he told them, "I have no idea who or what turned them into this state."  
"How long will it take to get them back to normal?", Kathryn asked and the doctor shut down his medical tricorder.  
"I wish I could answer that."  
This realization hit Kathryn. At that moment, the bridge called. "Commander, we've contacted the Trill. The ambassador agreed to talk to you."  
"Put him in the doctor's office," Tom ordered. "The queen and I will talk to him here." They made their way to the office and Kathryn sat down in the chair normally reserved for the holographic doctor.  
"Your Majesty," the ambassador greeted her then he saw Tom, "Commander Paris. What can I do for you?"  
"Ambassador, there is a problem," Kathryn said. "We were hit by an energy beam that turned two of our crew members into babies. We are near Boonta."  
The ambassador made a questioning face. "Our ships were also attacked in the Boonta sector. Is there a reason why you are there?"  
Kathryn wanted to answer, but she avoided in the last moment. Otherwise, she had to explain to the ambassador how they knew that two Trill ships had been attacked at Boonta.  
"A trade mission with the Boonta," Tom replied instead.  
"We need all the information you have about this incident and..." Kathryn added, but the ambassador interrupted her very rudely: "Sorry, Your Majesty, but that is not possible."  
"Not possible?", She repeated, "My husband and another crew member and more than three thousand members of your people have been turned into babies. How can you refuse to share your previous research with us?!", she realized he would never cooperate, "I´d like to talk to Captain Scha'al." If he would talk to her, of course, was different Question…  
"I am sorry. Captain Scha'al has quit his job. What happened to the General is very regrettable. Goodbye, Your Majesty. All the best", with these words he hung up and Kathryn couldn´t believe what just had happened.  
"Strange that Captain Scha'al just quit his job right now... I'm sure that's not true," Kathryn said without taking her eyes off the now dark screen.  
"Of course," Tom confirmed.  
"What do we do now?"

"First, you should take care of our two small crew members," the doctor said, who also appeared in his office, "Lieutenant Kim's wife will arrive in a few hours. Your Majesty, I suggest you take care of the Captain until I find some kind of treatment."  
"But I…"  
"I can´t take care of the captain," the doctor added, "After all, I'm a doctor and not a childminder." He walked away and a strange feeling surrounded her heart.  
"The captain will be fine, I'm sure," Tom said and Kathryn wished he was right, "We're going to land on Boonta. After all, these three mysterious incidents have occurred here. I can´t imagine the Boonta have no idea about all this."  
Kathryn nodded slowly. "Agree."

The Chakotay- baby desperately needed clothes, so Kathryn took a neutral-colored romper out of the closet as soon as she entered her quarter on Voyager with him.  
She had dressed the baby when a visitor announced on the door of her quarters. "Come in," Kathryn said, and the automatic doors opened.  
"I heard what happened to him," Sekaya said, "How is he?"  
Instead of answering, Kathryn handed her a dark-haired baby. Sekaya was freezing cold. It was definitely her twin brother. The baby on her arm cried horribly.  
"How long will he stay like this?", Sekaya tried to calm him by swinging her brother back and forth.  
"If only I knew...", Kathryn was visibly stressed.  
"What will happen to him now?"  
"This is a very good question. Before Captain Scha'al dismissed, he told the crew members of his two affected ships are being cared by relatives", she saw that the baby was still crying on Sekaya's arm, "Are there any more questions I can´t answer anyway?!"  
Sekaya noticed how stressed Kathryn was. She apologized to her and handed her the baby. Immediately he calmed down. "Seems like he found someone to make him feel comfortable with", actually, Sekaya wasn´t surprised at all, "I think it's best for now, my little brother stays with you."

The crew on the bridge worked hard to find out what had just happened.  
"Alright, let's think," Tom tried to calm himself, "The problem now affects us as well. If we had the opportunity to find out what kind of energy beam hit us, we could find a solution to our problem."  
"There's a region on Earth called the Bermuda Triangle," Mary said, "It's said over the years airplanes, ships and even shuttles have disappeared over and over again." Even today, the Bermuda - Triangle still existed and so far no one had found out why these aircraft, ships and shuttles got lost.  
Mary put a map of the North Atlantic on the screen. A yellow triangle appeared between Miami, the Bermuda islands and Puerto Rico. Then she showed a map of the Boonta sector, marking the places where the Trill ships left the course.  
"Are you suggesting we are dealing with something similar here?", Sekaya asked worriedly when she joined them.  
"It would be an explanation at least..." No spaceships were lost here, but their crews... More or less...  
"Ensign, head for Boonta. As soon you've landed, I want to talk to the Supreme Prelate.", with these words, Tom dismissed the group. Mary, however, looked horrified. "I'm supposed to land the ship?", She repeated, "Commander, I've never landed a ship of this size." Mary's hands began to shake when Tom said he was sure she could make it. With a queasy feeling she started landing on Boonta.

Boonta was a small desert planet surrounded by a ring of ice moons and boulders. Its inhabitants were friendly and promised them every possible help. Unfortunately, Tom's suggestion that the Boonta knew about the incidents in their sector turned out to be false: The Supreme Prelate heard for the first time that persons were turned into babies.  
Tom shared the latest news with Kathryn's via Com and although it was not really good news, she thanked him anyway.  
Aeria had spent the whole morning playing with Naomi. When she entered the quarters on Voyager, she was amazed, because next to Riehsa lay suddenly another baby. Riehsa seemed to be happy about the playmate, whom she watched attentively. The little princess was now four months old and she responded to people who entered the room and wanted to be lifted by them. Her muscles were so strong that she could lift her head for a few seconds and became more and more active.  
Aeria quickly ran to her mother, who sat at her desk and checked the latest sensor data. "Mommy," her voice sounded excited, "There's a baby next to Riehsa."  
"I know, sweetheart."  
"Who is this?"  
When Kathryn heard this question, she became ice cold. She wondered how she could gently tell Aeria that her father had turned into a child. She fervently hoped her three-year-old daughter hadn´t noticed the baby looked like her father.  
"This is…"  
"Can I have a little brother?", Aeria suddenly interrupted her mother.  
"We've already discussed," Kathryn replied, "If your daddy and I decide to have another baby, it could also be a little sister."  
Aeria seemed to be thinking about her words. "Can we keep the baby in the living room?"  
Kathryn wondered how to explain to her daughter they probably had no choice anyway. Added to this was the question of how to explain to Aeria why her father had suddenly disappeared. "May I play with the baby and with Riehsa?"  
Kathryn was grateful that Aeria had asked and she allowed her. She was relieved she had a little extra time, not least because a visit at the door of their quarters reported. "Come in!", she called. She didn´t know if she should be happy about Tom and B'Elannas visit.  
"How's the captain?", Tom asked worriedly. They saw Aeria squatting in front of the two babies on the rustling blanket and distracting them with a rattle. The question was therefore unnecessary. "That's irony. Yesterday, I said our senior officers have grown up", B'Elanna based her statement on the fact that nearly every member of the senior officers now had at least one kid," I'll take it all back."  
"Can we help you somehow?"  
"No, I...", Kathryn rubbed hard over her forehead, "I can manage. But maybe you should see Leila." Harrys wife meanwhile arrived.  
"We were there first," B'Elanna said when she sat down on the couch, "She also threw us out. Apparently, Harry is not an easy-care baby. "  
Kathryn remembered how her adult daughter Aeria told her once that the future was in constant motion. And she thought of the crewmembers of the two huge Trill ships that were probably still little babies.

After Tom and B'Elanna left, Kathryn desperately thought about feeding him and hoped once again he wouldn´t remember anything if he ever got his real shape back. Finally, she asked the replicator for a bottle of warm milk.  
After Kathryn had dinner with Aeria, she helped her daughter to grab her overnight bag, because she had promised to spend the night at Naomi's today. Fortunately, Naomi's mother agreed, and Kathryn was relieved she had only two children to take care of in the following night, even though Riehsa was currently sleeping all night.

"You can sleep in Riehsa's cradle in the living room," she announced to the baby, who she had no idea if he understood her words.  
She placed the baby in the cradle and immediately he started to cry. She rocked him back and forth, hoping her husband didn´t notice too much of all this. He cried and cried and didn´t stop. Kathryn was sure there was no reason to complain, but he didn´t like being in the cradle, so she lifted him onto her arm. Instantly, the baby calmed down. She was relieved, because if he had cried further, he would certainly have woken up Riehsa.  
Kathryn walked back and forth with the baby on her arm.  
"I never told you this..." she began, "Before I met you, I often spent the whole day sitting alone in the palace, taking care of all the things queens usually take care of...", she thought of a Figure from Aeria's story book, "Sometimes I felt like a princess in Aerias book who is lonely waiting in her tower to be rescued by a prince. When my mother died, I feel pressured because...", she decided to be honest,"...because everyone was expecting me to give birth to an heir to the throne. I never found anyone who had serious feelings for me. Then I met you and you changed my entire life." Kathryn hugged the baby tight. "I owe everything to you. Sometimes I feel like I'm not telling you enough how much I love you, even though you keep telling me. It is nice to be truly loved by you. I like it when you hold me in your arms and when tell me for you I'm the most beautiful woman in the galaxy... I have no idea if you can now understand what I'm saying, but... I just love you. And I will wait for you. Always." Kathryn thought they didn´t have enough time together yet. She hoped so much that one day everything would be fine. She tried to calculate how long it would take for him to return to adulthood, assuming he was aging at normal speed. And she tried to figure out how old she would be then. Although he was close to her, he was at the same time millions of light-years away. She gently kissed the Babys head when she realized how tired she really was. "You can sleep in my bed today," she said to the baby. But for the future they needed another solution.

The next morning the sun was shining in her face and Kathryn opened her eyes tiredly. She noticed the well-trained, naked torso of the man lying next to her in bed, snuggling up to sleep. His hand was loosely wrapped around her waist. "He's back to normal size," she thought and closed her eyes. Only then she realized what that meant and she had to admit she was surprised he was being restored to his right condition so quickly. She lifted her head and her frantic movement had woken Chakotay. "Kathryn," he murmured, reaching for her wrists to hold her. He realized we was in his normal condition again. For a second, he thought the romper he wore must have literally torn apart and he smirked. Then he registered where he was. "There's something I would have liked to tell you before this... something turned me into a baby: I'm not angry anymore because you got information from the Trill. Maybe I would have done exactly the same..." He watched her remaining completely still next to him, "And thank you for taking care of me yesterday."  
"You...", she almost cried out, thinking of all the things she had confessed to him, "You remember?"  
"Everything," he confirmed and put a finger under her chin. The look from her blue eyes hit him in the heart and he had a very good idea of what he should do with his original size. He saw Kathryn holding her breath. He put his lips on hers and she reacted immediately. They had never reconciled this way.  
Chakotay's kisses became more passionate and Kathryn leaned back with him until they lay in her pillow. Her hands slid impatiently over his body. She liked the way his muscles tensed.  
"You are a wonderful mother for our children," he said, "Let's have another baby right now." He felt her soft hands scurrying across his back.  
"Now?", she breathed.

"Yes, now. Is Aeria still staying with Naomi? "His hands stole under her nightgown and he found out that she wasn´t wearing any underwear when he pulled it over her head and threw it away carelessly. Chakotay listened to the sounds she made while seducing her slowly and tenderly. He covered every inch of her skin with kisses and smiled when he hit a particularly sensitive spot. Kathryn smiled blissfully at him and wrapped her legs seductively slowly around his waist. She clung to him when the merged. "Oh," Kathryn closed her eyes ecstatically and put her head back. At that moment the doctor called for her.  
"Sick bay to the Queen!"  
Her thoughts turned somersaults and she regretted that Chakotay stopped with the marvelous rhythm. "What´s wrong?", she replied, trying not to show she was out of breath.  
"Your Majesty, Lieutenant Kim has regained his original size," he informed the doctor, "What is the status of Captain Chakotay?"  
She was thinking an indecent thought, but instead she rolled her eyes. "He's fine. We are having breakfast, "she lied.  
"Excellent. When you're done, I´d like to see you here."  
"It'll take a while, Doctor," Chakotay intervened, "We're just having the appetizer."  
"Appetizer?" ,The hologram asked in confusion, but Kathryn was faster and ended the communications link. She was glad to be able to focus on him again before her heated bodies merged in a passionate act.  
After they had finished their extensive "breakfast", they stayed in bed next to each other exhausted, but very happy. Kathryn's long, red-blond hair spread like a stream of lava over the pillow. She smiled because he was on her side this time and she wondered if she should say something. Instead, she traced the contours of his muscles, lost in thoughts, while she lay in his arms. The feeling of her caressing hands on his body drove him crazy and Kathryn knew it. "By the way, it's good to hear I was able to rescue the beautiful queen from her tower," he suddenly said and she smiled. "Yes," she agreed, and there was nothing more to say, since everything had already been said.

The doctor insisted on scanning the captain, hoping to find some way to help the Trill. However, before Chakotay and Kathryn went to the Sick Bay, he insisted on embracing his little daughters, whom he thought he would never see them again.  
"Lieutenant Kim has his original size since 1 a.m. in the morning," the doctor reported.  
"How do you know that?"  
"Apparently, the lieutenant was a pretty tough baby. Leila Kim brought him to me late in the evening and said he was my problem now. She described it roughly like this", the doctor raised his head and looked thoughtfully at the ceiling light, " _He´s like a pain in the neck and I feel like I have two kids now_." The hologram rolled its eyes. "What was your experience, Captain?"  
"Let me put it that way," Chakotay began, looking at the doctor very seriously, "I never want to relive that, because I prefer being this age." He looked at Kathryn, who was waiting for the doctor had completed his scan.  
At that moment, the door to the Sick Bay opened and Tom Paris entered. "Thank god," he said, looking relieved, "I can´t tell you how nice it is to see you."  
"I never thought I'd say that, but I can only return that compliment," but he wouldn´t be the captain if he didn´t ask about the status of the ship.  
"We were on Boonta but we just started," Tom informed, "The Trill won´t help us."  
"Speaking of that," he looked at the doctor, "Why did Harry and I rewon our condition so quickly and the crews of the Trill ships didn´t?" Chakotay didn´t want to say he wanted to stay a baby. The fact he could remember every word of his wife and how much she had to struggle with this circumstance, showed him he was needed here.  
"Another mystery I'm going to explore here in the Bermuda Triangle," the doctor said and apparently everyone aboard knew they called this area like this. The doctor dismissed him and they returned to the bridge. Chakotay felt relieved. His sister was happy to see him when he, Tom and Kathryn came in. Harry had been at his station since breakfast.  
A flashing light in her console caught Ensign Wildman's attention. "I'm sorry to ruin your family reunion, but there's something big coming up to the planet."


	17. Triangle III

Title: Triangle III  
Author: Dancing Star  
Pairing: Janeway/ Chakotay  
Rating: 16  
Category: AU, Romance  
What happens: The crew finds out what turned Chakotay and Harry into babies.  
Notes: None

Triangle III

"Show us the ship, Ensign," Chakotay said and the relief was suddenly vanished. A huge Trill ship appeared on the main screen. It was bigger than the ship they had recently seen. "Captain, they are heavily armed," Harry said.  
"Red Alert," ordered Chakotay and the bridge darkened instantly, "Call them."  
Harry did what the captain demanded and the Trillian ambassador appeared on the main screen.  
"General Chakotay. You have recovered... ", he said.  
"Thank you for your sympathy, Ambassador," he didn´t mean it, because he could well remember that his wife had banged her head against a brick wall when she asked him for help. "What brings you to Boonta?"  
"You," the ambassador replied, "You have what is actually ours."  
Kathryn looked at Chakotay inquiringly and she noticed that Tom also looked very perplexed. What could the ambassador mean?  
"Captain, they're loading the weapons," Harry informed. "I'll just say it one more time", the ambassador was angry, "Give us what's ours." With these words, he ended the connection.  
"Shields up," Chakotay ordered, "Ensign Johnson, fallback course!"  
Their nerves were strained to the point when the weapons of the Trill just missed them. At the OPS, Samantha Wildman analyzed the weapon. "Captain, the weapon's signature resembles the energy beam that struck us yesterday and turned you and Ensign Kim into babies."  
Kathryn was alarmed. She stumbled with Riehsa in her arms when an exploding torpedo struck Voyager. Instinctively, Chakotay told her to sit in the captain's chair with the baby.  
"They're loading the guns again!"  
"I have an idea, Captain!", Mary Anne yelled when they passed the ring of Boonta, which consisted of ice moons and scree, "But Commander Paris has to navigate: We must land at one of the larger asteroids. There we can hide the ship."  
"It´s impossible to land there." Because another torpedo exploded in front of them, the ship staggered again. Tom stumbled to the navigation console. "We would crash at the asteroid," he told her, "We're too fast for a landing."  
"Bridge to engineering", Chakotay said, "B'Elanna, we have to throttle the speed enough to land on an asteroid in the ring of Boonta. It would be helpful if our landing looks like we didn´t make it."  
They heard how B'Elanna gasped. "If we switch off the warp core, we bring the ship in some kind of gliding flight. It would take a while to reach an asteroid, but... "  
"How long exactly?"  
"That depends on where you want to go," B'Elanna replied.  
"Alright. Do it."  
They ended the communication link with the engineering. Tom took over the navigation console. "I found an asteroid big enough for the ship," he said, switching off the connection to the propulsion system.  
"Steer to it." Chakotay stood next to him at the navigation console, watching each step of their landing. They all immediately noticed how the ship slowed down.  
"I blew some plasma out of the warp nacelles," B'Elanna answered from the engineering, "It looks to the Trill as if we have serious problems."  
While Kathryn sat in the command chair with Aeria and Riehsa, she also noticed how Voyager was losing more and more speed. She hugged both children tightly.  
"The asteroid is now ten kilometers away from us," Tom announced and he slowed down the ship once more.  
"Harry, fire on our plasma trail," Chakotay ordered. An eruption that pushed Voyager a little bit, told them the plasma had caught fire. They only hoped the fire was strong enough to obscure the Trill's view during their landing.  
Another jolt went through the ship. "We just landed," Tom announced with relief.  
They watched on the main screen how the Trill ship swept over them.

They now operated the ship in gray mode. They turned off all systems which weren´t needed to make sure the Trill wouldn´t find them. The quarters of the crew had plunged into complete darkness: If they wanted to stay undetected in the shadow of the asteroid to which they had attached the ship, they also had to be as inconspicuous as possible. There was also silence in the darkness: None of them dared make even a superfluous noise.  
It was evening when Kathryn was sitting on the couch in the ready room watching the stars, anxiously. Aeria sat in her lap and she had wrapped her arms tightly around her daughter.  
Did the Trill hit the planet with their weapon? If so, what happened to the Boonta? Did they also turn into babies? Kathryn would like to know. What she didn´t understand, however, was why the Trill knowingly turned the crew members of their own ships into babies. "What do you think how long can we stay here?", Kathryn asked when she watched a smaller Till ship pass by in the sky, apparently looking for them or debris of them. Kathryn knew that Chakotay hated the question. He sat at his desk, working on the laptop.  
"If we operate the ship in gray mode and leave the lights off in the quarters, then about 26 days. If we turn off the lights in the corridors at night and turn off Artificial Gravity where it isn´t needed, then we'll make 32."  
"Presumably, Neelix will soon tell us not having enough supplies on board to last for at least 26 days," Kathryn mused, "Speaking of it, if I remember correctly, none of us has eaten since this morning... See you later?" She watched him turn off the laptop- which was in addition to the replicator the only source of light in the room- and sat down on the couch. He picked up Riehsa and the baby slumbered peacefully on his chest.  
"That sounds very good," he answered. Even in the faint light of the stars he could see that she was very happy about it.  
A noise caught Kathryn´s attention. It belonged to a spaceship that scanned the surface of the asteroid. Thanks to B'Elanna's technical abilities the Trill sensors weren´t able to spot them right now.  
"We're trapped, Kathryn," he suddenly said. At first, Ensign Johnson's idea sounded good, now it turned out to be a death-trap. He told himself it was actually his job as a captain not to maneuver his crew into it.  
"The solution of getting out of this trap is simple," she said calmly, "We'll find out what the Trill want and give it to them."  
Chakotay had already thought of that. He had received a list from Neelix of what things they had recently taken aboard, but he didn´t find anything what could interest the Trill. As far as he knew Tom hadn´t taken anything from the Trill ship on which he had secretly acquired the data.  
"They said they were here because of us... Did they mean the entire ship or Harry and me because we recovered from the effects of their weapon?"  
Suddenly, Kathryn had an idea, "What if we try to contact Captain Scha'al?" Of course, she knew this wouldn´t work, because if they wanted to stay undetected in their hiding place, this would require them to stop communicating. That didn´t mean they couldn´t listen to space.  
"He's in love with you, did you know that?"  
"What?" Kathryn looked confused. If that was true, then the Trill had a strange way of showing affection, because they punished the female gender with ignorance. Also, it was very unfair to Scha'al's wife and their one-year-old son.  
"He asked me if you are currently connected to someone."  
"You can tell him my heart already belongs to you." He saw her smile and he returned the gesture. He also saw that she was getting serious again.  
"The ambassador of the Trill said, Scha'al had quit his job. What if that's not true?"  
"You mean we should take full risk?", He didn´t know what he should think of this idea. After all, he also thought the Trill were a peaceful people. He hadn´t guessed they turned out to be belligerent and aggressive. When Tom reported he had found out the Trill cut the brains out of the skull of their deceased relatives in funeral rituals in front of the entire family, he should have known better.  
"I'm not sure if we should try to track him down," Chakotay admitted honestly, "It's quite possible that Scha'al might as well lies and lures us into another trap."  
He had barely pronounced that sentence when the ship was shaken. Chakotay held Riehsa, but the baby was fine. "Captain on the bridge," Tom called and they rose from the couch. When he put the baby in Kathryn's arm, his hand petted her cheek and kissed her. Aeria grimaced when she saw this.  
"What's up, Commander?", he asked as he entered the bridge.  
"I think the Trill have seen through our trick. They know we're still out here somewhere", Tom said, "They're firing blind at all the bigger asteroids. They want to lure us out of our hiding place." He believed that a lack of wreckage was to blame.  
"Shields on 90%," Harry informed.  
"The question is, how much longer," Chakotay added. How much he hated the situation in which they were! "I don´t like to say this, but the Trill won´t give up until they find us. That we want to wait out the situation here, is wrong", Tom emphasized.  
"I know," at least the captain agreed, but they couldn´t possibly start when aggressive Trill ships were right above their heads. They had to wait for a suitable time.

Tom was awakened by a soft crying during the night. "Stay," he whispered to his wife and he got up from the bed to look for his four-month-old daughter Miral in the next room. He lifted the little dark-haired girl on his arm and walked with her into the living area of his quarters. "Computer, light," he ordered.  
"Command not executable," a mechanical voice answered and Tom remembered they had shut down the lighting in all rooms with windows until further notice. Only in closed rooms there was light.  
At the replicator, Tom ordered a bottle of milk and started to feed the baby. The Commander was almost frightened to death when he saw a figure at the window, which seemed to have been sucked there with a big, slimy mouth. When his pulse calmed down, he stepped closer. He could see the body of the figure was about one meter long, the skin was covered by gray and black dots. Yellow eyes stared at him.  
"Paris to Bridge."  
"Sekaya here, Sir," the counselor answered.  
"Scan the outer shell of the ship. Are there any clues to an uninvited guest?"  
Sekaya frowned. "What exactly do you mean?"

"What the hell is that?", Kathryn asked, after Sekaya had roused her and Chakotay in the middle of the night. The senior officers had gathered in Tom and B'Elanna's quarters. Because Sekaya said it was urgent, they hadn´t changed. The slimy creature had still sucked on the outer window pane and started at them through yellow bulgy eyes.  
"That's a Trillian slug," Neelix replied, "Some time ago, I heard a captain of a Carean convoy talking about it. These are disgusting beings. If you don´t remove them in time, mucus will etch a hole in the outer shell."  
Kathryn had approached the window and gently tapped the glass with one finger, but she withdrew her hand when Neelix said this.  
"Great," Tom mumbled, still holding Miral in his arms, "Are there any more slugs snuggled on our outer shell?"  
"Not yet. At least we couldn´t discover more", Sekaya said, looking at her brother. He seemed to complete exactly the same thought: "It can´t be a coincidence that Trillian snails live on an asteroid in the Boonta sector." He looked again at the being that had been squeezed on the outside of the ship. If they stayed here, they risked a hull breach. If they flew into open space, they risked being shot by the trill.  
"Go to your stations. We'll take off as soon as we can."  
Tom hastily handed the baby to B'Elanna and they all went back to their quarters to at least change clothes quickly.

"At the moment it´s eerily quiet. Probably the Trill are now a little tired", Tom said, who had taken over the navigation control again. He checked his terminal one last time before their take off.  
"The alternative is they have given up looking for us." But Kathryn didn´t believe that.  
"Which course should I program when we leave the asteroid?", Tom asked.  
"The captain has the last word," Kathryn reminded him, standing next to him, "I just hope we don´t fly home. Who knows what the weapon of the Trill did to the Boonta? What if they turn the entire population of Carea into babies?"  
At that moment the turbolift opened. Chakotay entered the bridge. He wanted to hear from B'Elanna in person that the engineering was ready before they left this asteroid. It was the last inspection of the ship before the battle.  
"What's the status of the bridge?", Chakotay asked.  
"All stations are ready. We can take off", Tom saw how the captain nodded, "Which course should I program?"  
Of course, Chakotay had been feverishly thinking about which course to take as soon as they got off the asteroid. Was he ready to sacrifice 50 million inhabitants of Carea to save the crew? He undoubtedly knew the Trill would take Carea hostage if they couldn´t enforce their will... He looked at Kathryn, wondering what she would do. She was the queen of the small, threatened planet. Deep inside, however, he knew the answer.  
"Obviously, we would go home," he could see she was holding her breath when he said this. Then he took a step toward Kathryn. "But first we visit the Trill..."  
Kathryn frowned. And Tom was confused, too.  
"...on her home planet."

The Trill were at home in a solar system which revolved around the star called Trios. Chakotay remembered a story Kathryn told him. It was about Alta and Trios, a couple who wasn´t allowed to be close. Contrary to the legend about their central star, the Trill seemed relatively unaffected.  
They took off in the middle of the night from the asteroid they were hiding on. Tom said how strange it was that no one launched an attack on them. It was too easy. Way too easy.  
"I'm on Warp seven now," Mary Johnson informed them, "At that speed we will reach the homeworld of Trill in... Four hours."  
"What is the status of our uninvited guest on Deck seven?", Kathryn asked when she thought of the ugly Trillian slug.  
"Freed himself from the outer shell," Ensign Wildman replied. At least one problem less.  
They made it to Trill without incident. It was a dirty planet. Seen from outer space, Trill looked like a dark green sphere. Thick, black clouds hung in its atmosphere.  
"Doesn´t look very inviting," Tom commented. Unlike this planet, Carea was a paradise. Of course, Tom had already heard the Trill seemed to be looking for something on board, but he suspected it might wasn´t an object at all, but their home planet Carea.  
Chakotay contacted B'Elanna. "Status?"  
"I still have Scha'al's pattern in the pattern buffer," she replied, "We can try to find him on the planet." B'Elanna evidently sensed what his next question was, "That will take another five minutes, then we got him."  
"Alright, but hurry up. It won´t be long before they spot us."  
B'Elanna's abilities might be so good they could hide on an asteroid, but they were now in space. The camouflage device wouldn´t help anymore.  
It turned out B'Elanna's estimate was very accurate: She reported from a Transporter Room she had found Scha'al five minutes later. "Fine, beam him up," Chakotay ordered, making his way to Transporter Room One with Tom. Before that, he sent a security team.

Scha'al was very surprised and a little angry that he had been kidnapped from his bed in the middle of the night and beamed to Voyager. The fewer people noticed his disappearance, the better for them. "It wasn´t my idea to talk to you, but the idea of the Queen," Chakotay told when they met in the ready room. He had no interest in exchanging friendships with him after it turned out Scha'al kept his eye on his wife.  
"You steal our data and kidnap us from our homes..."  
"Believe me, we regret it has come to this, but you are our only chance to get some answers... Sit down."  
Captain Scha'al picked up a figure of cloth, lying on the chair in front of the desk. The figure wore a pink dress and her hair was yellow threads of wool.  
"Sorry, that's my daughter's," Chakotay said. With a wave of his hand, he signaled he should hand over the toy to him.  
"Why don´t you throw it away?"  
"I don´t understand why I should do that," Chakotay said, "My daughter would be heartbroken."  
"That means she´s important to you..."  
"I can´t imagine a day without her," he corrected seriously. He remembered the day Aeria was born: It was January 5th, 2374 and the population of Carea couldn´t wait for the arrival of the Royal Baby. Kathryn was in labor for nearly twelve hours. It was the most terrible pain she had ever experienced. They would never forget, how the doctor said, Kathryn only had to push a little more and he bravely held his wife's hands, even though she had almost broken it. Kathryn had fumed that she wouldn´t let him ever touch her again. But the result was that they held Riehsa in their arms two and a half years later in August. He remembered how happy Kathryn was when the doctor put her firstborn child in her arms. "My little girl," she had affectionately said to her daughter. When he held his baby in his arms for the first time, he also looked very happy. He didn´t want to return the newborn to his wife and he swore to do whatever he could to protect her and her mother.  
"Something that sets your species apart from mine," Scha'al said, "I admire you always have your families with you... I prefer outer space. Staying at Trill at home all the time would make me unhappy."  
"Captain, I didn´t call you here to talk to you about my children... You said we have stolen your information and kidnapped you from your home, a crucial point was missing," Chakotay began, "Your people claim we have something on board, which is yours. What did they mean?"  
Scha'al seemed to think about this question a little longer.  
"You know, we have very accurate lists of Voyager´s loading," Chakotay continued, "And we just can´t figure out what it could be. So there is only one possibility: When you were on board for the first time, you forgot something... Or you dumped something." His voice became stricter. "So, what is it?"  
"It's data," Scha'al replied, "I was hoping you would stay away from us if you knew our cultural customs. And the reason why we constructed a ship whose main weapon is turning people into babies."  
"You lied to us," Chakotay said, "You knew who was responsible all..."  
"Of course we knew," Scha'al confirmed, "Incidentally, I've placed the data in your database. It's easy for a good engineer to find it." He rose from the chair he sat on," If you'll excuse me, I should go home. "  
And they should leave this place, as long as their camouflage still allowed.

Scha'al was accompanied by the security team. Tom could see Chakotay was quite angry with him when they finished the conversation. "They lied to us from the beginning," he informed his first officer, "He has placed data in our database that his people would like to have back."  
"Sounds like the content is either very secretive or very explosive... I'll put B'Elanna on it..." The on-board computer revealed that B'Elanna was currently in the commander's office and they headed off. When they stood in the door, they saw how Kathryn and B'Elanna were simultaneously reaching for the laptop and closing it. "What are you doing here?", Tom asked.  
"Nothing," Kathryn and B'Elanna answered at the same time. They felt caught. "Was it something forbidden?", he didn´t have to tell them he could check the logs to find out. "No, it's not forbidden," B'Elanna said, "We just found out something very disturbing." She opened the laptop and turned it so they could see exactly what they had found. Tom and Chakotay knew immediately this was the data Scha'al had placed in their database.  
"They lied to us," Kathryn added, "The Trill turned the crew members of their ships into babies. They have built some kind of weapon. The government of Trill has ordered that: The planet is overpopulated and the life expectancy of the Trill is very, very high. The government can only get rid of the residents by turning them into babies and then allowing them to die."

After leaving Trill and knowing the truth about the weapon that had already turned many persons into babies, there was a barely tangible silence on the ship. Because their own planet was overpopulated, the government of Trill had built a weapon which would turn anyone hit by their energy beam into babies. The bad part, though, was that the Trill then left the babies to themselves.  
"I don´t understand", Kathryn said to Chakotay when she was on her way to the bridge, "Even if they weren´t real babies... Who leaves a helpless child to die?" She thought of Leila and Harry, who both of desperately wanted a baby of their own.  
"What the Trill do to their own people is terrible," he affirmed, "Try to see what the children really are: Adults."  
Kathryn nodded. "Yes," she said, "but it´s very difficult."  
Of course he knew and for that reason he had tried from the beginning to keep certain things away from Kathryn: For example, he had done everything he could to avoid that she saw the countless dead children aboard a Trill ship. The fact that Kathryn and B'Elanna had found out about this at the same time as what the Trill had possibly practiced for years was extremely unfavorable.  
"I think we should hand the data that Scha'al has placed in our database to the Trill government, shake hands and hope we will never meet again," Kathryn told Chakotay. He wasn´t at all surprised she didn´t want to have to do with the Trill.  
"I feel the same way."  
They reached the bridge, where Harry was already in high spirits. "Good, that you are here. We have just received a distress signal from Carea", he informed them. They walked to Harry's station. While he started a recording for them, Tom entered the bridge and he joined them.  
"Your Majesty, I hope this cry for help reaches you in time," Cierra said, who was obviously sitting in front of Kathryn's laptop in her office at the palace, "About an hour ago a huge spaceship appeared in the sky. Some captains of the Carean fleet say it's a Trill ship. They fired a ray at the planet. Since then, there has been no reaction from the area the beam was aimed at." A noise caught Cierra's attention. "Please help us, Your Majesty. You are our last hope."


	18. Triangle IV

Title: Triangle IV  
Author: Dancing Star  
Pairing: Janeway/ Chakotay  
Rating: 16  
Category: AU, Romance  
Content:  
Notes:

Triangle IV

"Please help us, Your Majesty. You are our last hope ", these were Cierra's last words then the screen became dark.  
"We have to get back to Carea," Kathryn decided.  
"It could be a trap," said Harry.  
"I don´t doubt it. But my people are in danger." After all, Cierra said there was no response from the area the Trill had set their weapon on. Apparently the inhabitants had become babies. Kathryn guessed the Trill had managed to use their weapon in a targeted manner, and she suspected they'd tested it on Voyager when Chakotay and Harry turned into babies. Now there was also an idea of what had happened to the Boonta, and she hoped her guess was true and had hit only a few.  
"We're flying home," Chakotay and the bridge crew immediately occupied their stations.  
Harry thought it was wrong to attack the Trill without a plan.  
"If I ever don´t want to rely on your intuition, remember me about this," Chakotay told Kathryn. If he had actually left her and the children on Carea, he would have no idea how he would ever forgive himself.  
They flew home as fast as they could. "Strange," was Mary Johnson's only comment when she saw Carea on the main screen, "I expected a huge Trill ship to lurk here." The Trill battleship was too big to hide on the other side of the planet. She therefore suspected that the Trill had left long ago.  
"I volunteer for the field team," said Tom, who wanted to get an idea of the situation. If something would happen to him down there, like Chakotay, then he was sure B'Elanna would take care of him as well as the queen did for her husband.  
"Agreed," Chakotay said, "We're leaving a com connection open. At the slightest sign of trouble, we will beam you out immediately." Tom suggested beaming the team directly into the palace. If they believed Cierra's cry for help, then something must have happened here. "Locked," Harry said when he and Tom stood outside the front door of the Royal Family's quarters.  
"Not quite," Tom knew where the spare key was and so they entered the quarters. It was quiet inside. "I'll go find Cierra and Millah," Harry suggested, taking out his tricorder.  
"I think this won´t be necessary," Tom saw a small baby lying in front of the desk. "Cierra!" He lifted the crying baby onto his arm and activated his communicator. "Paris to Doctor. I beam Cierra up in a few seconds. Get ready." Tom heard the doctor confirm, then saw the baby vanish in front of his eyes, ready to be beamed onto Voyager.  
"Here's another baby," Harry shouted and Tom hurried to get into the next room. There was also a baby in front of the queen's desk. "Is she sleeping?". Tom asked.  
"No," Harry put down his tricorder, "She's unconscious." The baby was female and lay embedded in a dress of yellow and orange fabric. The court ladies were dressed like this.  
"That's Millah," Harry informed him. He also activated his communicator and informed the doctor that they were about to beam another baby onto the ship.  
Then they went on. In the garden a device, which served to mow the lawn, wandered around aimlessly although the grass had long been cut short. Tom had assumed the device was the backer of the gardener, but the plate-sized lawnmower had to be turned off when its job was done. As the gardener had become a baby too, the lawn mower went its own way. Tom picked up the baby, who used to be the florist. "Seems like we need help," he said more to himself, trying to estimate how many people could have turned into babies by the Trill's weapon.  
When Tom and Harry finished their tour, they found 160 babies in the palace. The doctor's Sickbay almost overflowed. A little bit worried, Kathryn watched as he gave a baby to Samantha Wildman. "I'll take it to the children's ward," she decided and walked away. The doctor turned to the baby, which was Cierra.  
"I'll take care of Cierra," Kathryn told the doctor, lifting the baby to her arm. She got a crooked look from her husband. "What?", she asked, "Of course I´m doing that. After all, Cierra has been a great help to us."  
"I'm not complaining," Chakotay told her.  
"Thanks," the doctor said gravely, "I'm a doctor after all and not a kindergarten teacher." Then he apologized for treating them so gruffly. Although he was bored sometimes since Voyager was at home on Carea, he had to admit that 160 small patients at a stroke were a slightly different challenge: Most of them were crying and blaring.  
"Well, there's no doubt Cierra will be fine," the doctor finally said, turning to the bed on which Baby Millah was lying, "I wish I could say the same about her." The Baby was dehydrated and still unconscious.  
"Doctor, please let us know if there's anything new about Millah's condition," Kathryn said, and the holographic doctor nodded. She and Chakotay left the sick bay and Cierra on her arm cried a bit. "Seems like there's something to complain about," Chakotay said.  
"That reminds me of you," Kathryn said, "When you were a baby and your sister was holding you in her arms, you were crying all the time."  
"I wanted to stay with you."  
"It worked."  
They met Tom, who looked pretty stressed out. "They're back," he told them gravely, "The Trill are back." Kathryn hurried to bring the baby to her quarter. There she put it in Riehsa's cradle, which stood in the living area. Then she hurried as fast as she could on the bridge. There, Chakotay was talking to the Commander of the Trill ship. It was dark and Red Alert was on.  
"Who are you?", Kathryn asked, "Where is the ambassador?"  
"Ambassador Ta'al has quit," the person on the screen answered and Kathryn thought that was very strange after Captain Scha'al had quit his job, too.  
"Captain, we know Captain Scha'al has deposited important data aboard Voyager," Chakotay told him, "We would like to return this data to you. That is also in the interest of the Queen of Carea."  
"I'm afraid that won´t be enough. You have already analyzed the data..."  
"That's not true," Tom contradicted and the ambassador thought his protest came a little too fast.  
"We must eliminate you, your ship and your planet," the commander of the Trill ship said.  
"They're loading the weapons!", Harry shouted at his station and at that moment they saw the green shimmer of a torpedo heading towards them.  
"Shields up!", Chakotay shouted and Mary at the navigation terminal programmed an escape course, but the torpedo was faster. The torpedo grazed the signs of their nacelle and they began to spin. The bridge crew crashed to the ground.  
Mary felt a dull ache in her forehead, then rose to reach for the navigation console. Gravity was almost stronger than her, but then her hand reached the controls and she programmed a course.  
"The ship is not spinning anymore," Harry informed the bridge crew.  
Ensign Johnson set course for Cana. She touched her forehead and noticed blood was dripping from a wound there. Cana was one of Carea's moons. It was an ice desert, but beneath the kilometer thick ice, there was an ocean of water.  
"We should find a solution for saving our planet." Kathryn left the bridge and returned to her quarters. She was curious if Cierra would return to her old shape tomorrow. When Harry and Chakotay were turned into babies, it had taken a night to restore the original state. She hoped all the other people on Carea would be fine. She stayed in the living room on the couch at night and Kathryn fell asleep there. She didn´t notice how Chaktoay sat down next to her. She tried not to show how disappointed she was when the next morning a baby was still lying in Riehsa's cradle. Cierra had not changed back... It didn´t take long before they encountered the Trill ship again: after the crew had prepared for the fight with the Trill, they had returned home. Chakotay was talking to the Till Ambassador who yesterday announced that Ambassador Ta'al was no longer in charge.  
"We will return you the information Scha'al has deposited on our ship," Chakotay said seriously. Red alert was activated.  
"I already said this is not enough. We have to destroy your ship."  
"That's enough," Kathryn angrily intervened in their discussion, "Disappear from Carea and dare not to come back, or I swear I'll post the information about your species. Nobody will want to be involved with people who cut the brains of his deceased family members in front of children´s eyes. Or who deliberately kill people." All trade agreements would burst: the Trill would be left with all their export goods.  
Chakotay was astonished to see her in such a rage, but he refrained from responding. He saw that the new ambassador actually seemed to be thinking. "All right," he said then, "You will bring the data to our ship." He ended the communication link.  
"That's a trap!", Tom sounded upset.  
"Of course it is," Kathryn agreed, but they had no other choice, "I will accompany you." These words she addressed to her husband, who nodded in agreement. Kathryn was surprised he didn´t disagree.  
"Tom, you have the bridge", Chakotay was already on his way to the turbolift. The doors closed behind him and Kathryn.  
"Don´t you want to say something against it?", Tom asked looking at Counselor Sekaya, the sister of Captain Chakotay.  
"I've learned that I'm better off not getting involved in some things," she replied, "Commander, you may not notice, but even though there are clear areas of responsibility, they still give each other space: If they're on Carea, Kathryn is definitely in charge and if they're on Voyager, then Chakotay. Kathryn has no problem with that at the moment, quite the contrary. On the other hand he subordinates when they are on Carea."  
"Yeah," Tom grumbled, "but I find it hard to watch them both run into their doom." Formularbeginn "I think it's pretty brave, or rather stupid, to follow the Trill´s offer. I haven´t decided yet", Chakotay said on the way to the transporter room.  
"Yes." Kathryn didn´t look enthusiastic. She reached for a PADD to which she had downloaded all the data about the Trill. There was no copy, no backup. This had to work.  
They were beamed to the Trill ship. No one had come to pick them up. So they tried to find a turbolift that would take them to the command center.  
Kathryn followed Chakotay and she walked about two meters behind him as a force field built between them.  
Kathryn collided with the energetic wall and fell to the ground. Chakotay noticed what had happened and was with her in two steps. "Kathryn!", he called her when she lay motionless on the floor. He let out a sigh of relief when she opened her eyes and slowly raised her head.  
"What is...?", She too saw the force field. She touched it carefully and the surface vibrated.  
Chakotay looked around searchingly. Finally, he discovered a kind of terminal near the force field. His fingers darted across the surface. "The terminal doesn´t control the force field," he said morosely.  
"It doesn´t matter," Kathryn said, "You have to go."  
"I won´t leave you here."  
At that moment, the sound of heavy footsteps hit her ear and Kathryn turned around. It was the Trill. "You have to go," she repeated.  
"No."  
The footsteps grew louder and louder.  
"If the Trill find me here, that's my end," she saw he was now using his phaser to melt a very small switch next to the force field, "What if they snap you, too? Should Aeria and Riehsa lose their father, too?"  
"I'd rather die than leave you here, my queen," he answered tersely. The switch next to the force field sparked, but the energy barrier didn´t dissipate.  
The steps were as loud as ever. Kathryn's pulse was racing. "Please go," she said again to Chakotay, and he saw tears glistening in her eyes, "Please go. That's an order." Her hand touched the force field again and it shivered under her skin.  
At that moment, the Trill ship was apparently attacked because it was hit by an eruption. For a second it was dark in the corridor and the force field fell out.  
"Come on, we need to move on," Chakotay told Kathryn and reached for her hand.  
"The PADD!" It had fallen out of her hand as she collided with the force field.  
"Doesn´t matter!", He pushed his communicator, "Chakotay to Voyager: Two Persons to Beam."

When they got back to Voyager, they immediately went to the bridge.  
"That was quick!", Tom stated astonished.  
"We wanted to talk to the Trill personally, but it didn´t happen that far," Chakotay said. "What happened? Was the Till ship being attacked?" The captain wondered why the Trill ship was completely down on the port side.  
"We don´t know," Harry hated this answer, "A torpedo came out of nowhere."  
Tom reported the torpedo struck the Trill ship and it was immediately half destroyed.  
"No matter who did that, they helped us a lot," Kathryn said softly to Chakotay and he nodded in agreement.  
"Captain, the Trill ship is set in motion," Mary Johnson informed them, occupying the navigation console, "Apparently they are setting a course for leaving the solar system."  
They watched as the Trill ship left. On the one hand, they were relieved someone had come to help, but on the other hand, they didn´t know who that had been. Kathryn was very worried by the fact this someone had to have a stronger ship than the Trill. They returned home to the palace. It was still a place of quietness after the staff and many residents were turned into babies, but there was hope: Kathryn had found out that many Boonta inhabitants who were turned into babies had returned to their proper condition meanwhile.  
During the night Kathryn was awakened by a strange sound. Chakotay had heard it, too, and he also sat in bed wide awake. "What was that?", Kathryn asked.  
"Where... where am I?", They heard the voice of a young woman asking and they recognized her immediately. At the same time they stood up and Kathryn grabbed her long, light blue silk morning coat.  
"Wait!", she called, holding her husband by the collar of his grey shirt. "Come over when I call you," Kathryn said while she passed him and walked into the living room. She didn´t see that he stopped helplessly in the middle of the room and put his hands on his hips.  
"Your Majesty," a troubled voice greeted her, who definitely belonged to Cierra, "Please help me. I'm stuck." The young woman stuck in the cradle in which Kathryn had laid her the night before. Kathryn put her long dressing gown over Cierra's body, barely covered by the baby blanket, and then helped her get out of her prison. Harry, Leila, Tom and B'Elanna and their children had already traveled to the Carean Forest Moon Caro last night. After experiencing the Trill, they appreciated their home a bit more and didn´t want to spend their free time on the holodeck, though Tom had some very interesting programs: Captain Proton, for example. Once they even managed to persuade the Queen and Captain to come along. Kathryn had the role of the spider queen Arachnia. She found the character very overdone and hoped she wouldn´t meet again Captain Proton so quickly. Chakotay had also portrayed an evil character, a fact he wasn´t particularly happy about. Since then, the queen found that Tom and Harry were lowbrow in their leisure time, but the two men were fine with it.  
B'Elanna really liked the cottage that belonged to the queen. She also appreciated the weather was always warm on Caro, but not too hot because of the many shady trees. Unlike Carea, Caro had no beaches. The small pool behind the chic house was the only way to refresh.  
"I like this place," B'Elanna said when she sat lazily by the pool, dressed in a bathing suit. She watched Miral sitting in the shade. "There are certainly advantages to being friends with the Queen."  
"For example?", Tom asked.  
"You can live in the palace for free," his wife answered lazily.  
"I hope she will never see the wine stain we left on the carpet," Harry added, also lounging on a lounger by the pool, "She's going to kill us." Unfortunately, they had spilled a bit of wine when they celebrated their arrival on Caro yesterday. "No, she´s going to kill YOU," Tom corrected, leaning back and closing his eyes.  
B'Elanna dozed as well. She noticed the sun wasn´t warming her anymore. "Tom, push the parasol aside," she begged.  
"We have no parasol," he remarked. At the same time, Harry, Leila and he opened their eyes again. They caught their breath as they saw what had darkened the sun. "Should I throw away the clothes which don´t fit Princess Riehsa anymore, Your Majesty?" ,Cierra asked at the same time at the Royal Palace.  
"No," Kathryn said when she stood on a small pedestal in her walk-in closet. One of her court ladies was just setting the hem of her dress. "I feel we have to compensate the Carean people for not having a pompous royal wedding." And the Carean people loved babies.  
"Alright," Cierra said, "I'm going to moth up the clothes." Cierra was immensely grateful to the Queen for taking care of her when she was a baby. She never wanted to experience that again. When Cierra also thought of her best friend Millah, tears welled up in her eyes.  
She turned away and at that moment Chakotay passed her.  
"Sia, leave us alone," Kathryn told the young woman who took care of her dress and she nodded.  
"You look very pretty," Chakotay stopped in the doorway and watched her. Kathryn wore a long, white dress with a black lace overlay.  
"I wish people were more interested in my politics and less in what dress I wear...", she looked at it in the mirror. It was the dress she wanted to wear at Aeria's birthday party. "...but maybe I return the dress. It doesn´t fit right." She tugged at the waist of the dress.  
"I don´t understand much about fashion, but..."  
"No, it doesn´t fit right," she said when he stopped in front of her. When she was on the taylor podium, she was as taller as him. Kathryn grabbed his hand and put it on her stomach. He understood immediately.  
"Are you…?" "Yes," Kathryn smiled, "The doctor says I'm in week six with them."  
"Them? That means they're twins?", he asked and Kathryn hugged him. "But at the reception a few days ago…." "I didn´t know back then." They kissed each other stormily.  
"Your Majesty, I...", Cierra piqued noted in which situation she had come and immediately turned on her heel to leave the walk-in closet again.  
Kathryn laughed when she broke away from Chakotay. Then she disappeared behind a Parravent in a good mood to put on a slightly simpler dress. With final instructions for Cierra, Kathryn and Chakotay left their quarters.  
"Why did you leave so quickly this morning?", Kathryn asked as she huddled up with him and together they walked through the courtyard of the palace. The weather was beautiful and although it was winter, the sun was shining from the sky. The flowers bloomed in the middle of their winter cycle and dipped the garden in a colored sea.  
"I picked up a part of Aeria's birthday present."  
"A part?", Kathryn repeated when they stopped, "We've agreed to give her a doll."  
"Yes, and this," he held a small, black box in his hands and allowed his wife to look inside. Her eyes lit up as she saw the content. "A communicator for Aeria," she smiled, "That's really a very good idea. You have a good sense for such things. She will be very happy about that." She was afraid Aeria was even more pleased about it than about her new doll. He let the communicator disappear again, knowing that Aeria was here somewhere. A florist was just bringing the decoration for the Princess Day, Aeria's birthday, which was a bank holiday on the planet.  
Chakotay gave his wife a single red rose he had from the florist and Kathryn was visibly flattered. They saw Aeria walking in their direction, followed by Sekaya. Apparently the little princess had once again watched her aunt train one of the horses from the palace stable. "Mommy! Daddy! ", Aeria waved to them and Kathryn waved back. A florist, a Reedian, crossed her path and Aeria ran faster anxiously. She hugged Kathryn tightly.  
"I´m sorry," the queen said to the creature with thick, orange reptile skin, whose six eyes were each to the left and right of his face, "The Princess has never seen a Reedian before."  
The being answered in his language, but their communicators translated for them. Kathryn looked at her daughter, who had calmed down a bit. She wiped her tears from her eyes. Then she wanted her mother to drop her off so she could accompany Sekaya and the horse.  
Chakotay and Kathryn watched in amusement how Aeria walked to the stable with Sekaya and the black horse. They didn´t see immediately that a figure in Starfleet uniform was sprinting up the wide staircase to the palace. "Captain! Your Majesty!", Ensign Johnson stood in front of them, completely out of breath," Your answer... "  
None of them knew what she meant. "Your answer...", Mary repeated, noting a stabbing pain in her side. "The message you sent to Starfleet after Admiral Paris wanted to expose a being here... We have an answer now. They're here." She turned around and the queen and Chakotay saw the saucer of a huge Starfleet ship in the sky. 


	19. Home IV

Title: Home IV  
Author: Dancing Star  
Pairing: Janeway/ Chakotay  
Rating: 12  
Category: AU, Romance  
Content: Connects to Home III.  
Comments: Everything´s fine in the end. And if not, it's not the end.

Home IV

It had been two weeks since Starfleet had come to Carea a second time. They came with a huge, lumbering ship and a few small ships. Kathryn had spent the past two weeks re-negotiating with Starfleet what they wanted here. The time was exhausting.  
The large, unwieldy ship was called Sanctuary and it fired the torpedo, which made the trill leave the planet two weeks ago. Sanctuary was under the command of Captain Picard. One of the smaller Starfleet ships, Enterprise, was commanded by William Riker.  
Kathryn had read about both of them in Voyager's Database. It wasn´t right that Starfleet was here again. Not after what they had experienced with Admiral Paris. Of course, they also owed it to Admiral Paris they could meet Chakotay's sister Sekaya and his mother Vana. At the thought of her dead mother-in-law she carefully stroked her stomach. Surely Vana would have been very happy if she had learned that more grandchildren were about to arrive.  
They also owed the crew of Ophelia a very capable, new crew member for Voyager: Ensign Mary Anne Johnson had joined them and proved to be a worthy pilot for Voyager.  
Even if Riker and Picard made a sincere impression on Kathryn, she wouldn´t let them set foot on her planet unless she explicitly allowed.  
But then there were those moments when Kathryn wished they had never tried to contact Starfleet in the Alpha Quadrant.  
In a conference behind the laptop, she and Chakotay had also found out why Starfleet was here: Shortly after Ophelia left Earth, the planet had been overgrown by a strange, mysterious plant which quickly destroyed every life. Through a transmission medium, the plant had reached a huge starbase called Yorktown and destroyed everything there within a very short time. Captain Will Riker described the weird images of a dead, star-studded space. With the help of unintentional carriers, seeds of the plants came to some planets, which belonged to the Starfleet and from there it spread further and further. Not many people could be saved: 10,000 life forms lived onboard of Sanctuary, not only officers of Starfleet but also their families. There were ten more ships with about the same number of inhabitants. All of them, accompanied by smaller ships, set off to open up a new habitat. After a journey that lasted slightly longer than Ophelia's thanks to an improved engine, Sanctuary finally arrived in the Delta Quadrant to seek refuge on the planet Carea.  
100,000 people could be saved. Was this really the end of humanity? Apparently, Captain Riker noticed what this message had triggered on his counterparts and he finished the video conference for today.  
Kathryn remembered the shocked expression on her husband's face, who was struggling with the fact that his home colony, though long-held in Cardassian power, might be nothing more than a greenhouse full of deadly plants. B'Elanna had reacted similarly when they told her what had probably happened to the Klingon homeworld. Although B'Elanna didn´t care much for her Klingon heritage, it took a few shock seconds before she could process the thought. Even Kathryn, who couldn´t remember her mother and sister on Earth, felt a strange sensation in her stomach: She thought of the letter Chakotay sent to her family on Earth and although she didn´t know those people, the thought of their death upset her.

A noise at the front door of her quarters in the palace tore her from her thoughts.  
"You look beautiful," Chakotay noted as he closed the door behind him.  
Kathryn was wearing a red, knee-length dress with a bateau neckline and long sleeves. Her long hair fell over her back like a waterfall. The queen noticed he wore a brand-new uniform. He, too, had dressed up.

"How are you today?", he asked, touching her stomach with his hand and kissing her.  
"Pretty good," Kathryn answered.  
"When do we tell Aeria about the babies?", he wanted to know when he broke away from her. His hand was still on her stomach.  
"Let's wait until the twelfth week, okay?"  
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Chakotay knew exactly who the visit was. "When do we tell them?"  
"I guess they have to wait a while, too."  
"Don´t worry," Chakotay told her as he headed for the door, "They don´t hear a word from me."  
The visitor was B'Elanna, who had come to pick them up for visiting Enterprise. Will Riker had invited them and they didn´t refuse. Inwardly, B'Elanna couldn´t believe Tom missed visiting the legendary Enterprise: He preferred to stay on Voyager. She imagined how her husband was sitting in the command chair, grim-faced, secretly annoyed he hadn´t come along. Then she remembered his father, Admiral Paris, and with what intentions he had come to Carea and all at once she could understand him very well. Besides, Tom was still annoyed because Starfleet had sent him to a penal colony on New Zealand. And he probably would still be there, if...  
They made their way to the spot where they wanted to beam them to Enterprise. "Tom won´t come?", Kathryn wanted to know when she arm- linked with her husband.  
"No, he's on Voyager," B'Elanna said, "Didn´t Ensign Johnson want to come?"  
"She canceled." Kathryn had an idea why: Presumably, Mary thought Starfleet had a few chickens to pick with her because she had betrayed Admiral Paris and told his plans to the Queen of Carea. She had told her she didn´t need to worry.

Kathryn noticed her husband also was a bit different than usual: Although Chakotay was always calm he seemed a bit nervous now. "Are you alright?", she asked.  
"Yes," he confirmed.  
"Are you sure?", she didn´t miss to see him rocking impatiently with his feet up and down.  
"Yes."  
Kathryn knew he wasn´t listening to her properly. "You know, we should ask Tom and Harry if they mind if we accompany them to Captain Proton's latest adventure." When Kathryn said that, B'Elanna laughed, snorting. And Kathryn received a proof that her husband wasn´t listening to her, "Yes," he said.  
Kathryn refrained from saying he was probably quite excited.  
They reached the marble staircase that led to the palace and they were beamed onto Enterprise. The queen was a little excited as she set foot on the Enterprise´ floor.  
When they materialized in the transporter room, they saw a tall, bearded man in a red uniform. "Captain, welcome aboard Enterprise," William Riker reached out his right hand and he didn´t miss the strange look in Chakotay's face. "Thank you for your invitation, Captain. The Carean Court Protocol foresees you to welcome the queen on your ship first", Chakotay informed him, "Then you talk to all the others." It was fine if her Majesty, the Queen, was first introduced when they were on Voyager or on Carea.  
Riker hesitated for a second. "Is there anything else I need to know?"  
"An entire catalog, believe me," Chakotay replied.  
Captain Riker laughed. "Your Majesty, Captain, I welcome you aboard Enterprise. Unfortunately, Captain Picard is currently busy, but I am pleased to show you one of Starfleet's best ships."

"What about Sanctuary?", Kathryn asked. The ship was ten times the size of Enterprise and therefore quite cumbersome in speed. The queen just wanted to make sure there was no cause for concern.  
"I'll show you Sanctuary on occasion," said Will Riker, "A tour on such a big ship would take a day."  
"Don´t mind, but we have made bad experiences in the past with ships we´re not allowed to see. Or with shields."  
"There is nothing we hide from you." They entered the officer's mess hall of Enterprise. The room was much larger and more comfortable on Enterprise than on Voyager. There was even a bar.  
Kathryn noticed from the corner of her eye that some of the Starfleet officers whispered softly as they entered the room. Kathryn recalled the crew of Ophelia behaved the same way when they had taken a tour through the ship. "They're not talking about you," Chakotay whispered to his wife and Kathryn frowned. "So? About whom then?"  
"About me," he still whispered, "Because my wife is the prettiest woman in Galaxy." As he said that, Kathryn's face gradually relaxed and she smiled.  
Most of the curious crewmembers focused on their drinks again. However, a woman with red hair and a blue uniform and a woman with very long, curly black hair were still watching them.  
"What are you feeling?", Beverly Crusher asked.  
"They´re very suspicious," Deanna replied. "Doesn´t surprise me after the experience with Admiral Paris. The last time Starfleet showed up here, the planet was almost destroyed." The two saw the group leaving the room and they, too, concentrated on their drinks.  
"Where are you taking us next?", Kathryn asked, watching each other's response closely. "Well, I'd really like to see the engineering," B'Elanna suggested. Riker seemed to agree and so he led them into the engineering. B'Elanna almost fainted with envy when she saw the warp core, which was almost twice the size of Voyager's. In addition, more than twice as many staff worked here as in her engineering.

Formularbeginn

A humanoid figure, lying on a kind of examination table, caught B'Elanna's attention. It wasn´t Commander Data. She had met him a few days ago during a video conference and now she could hardly wait to meet him in person.  
"What's that?", Kathryn asked when she studied the seemingly lifeless body. The outer shell of the android was covered with a kind of gray metal.  
"To be honest, we were hoping you could help us out," a dark-skinned man in uniform answered. The golden color of his turtleneck pullover revealed he was part of the Technical Staff. "Geordi La Forge, chief engineer," he introduced himself.  
B'Elanna looked at him, secretly embarrassed she still wore the outdated Starfleet uniform. "B'Elanna Torres. Also chief engineer."  
"You have developed a camouflage device for your ship..."  
B'Elanna was pleased La Forge was up to date. "It's not very good, but it's enough to hide Voyager on an asteroid for one night."  
"So that means you didn´t design this android", Kathryn turned their attention back to the lifeless figure which lay on the table in front of them. "I know a planet called Mariana and the inhabitants build androids who work in their underwater mines. Unfortunately, they don´t live very long because the saltwater attacks their gearbox."  
"General, if it's all right, I'll transfer Voyager's technical database to Chief La Forge," B'Elanna suggested and Chakotay nodded in agreement. Although he still distrusted Starfleet, it was hopefully a step towards friendship. In Chakotays opinion, Starfleet was currently more dependent on them than the other way. The destruction of Earth had changed everything.  
La Forge and B'Elanna went to a terminal. "This is a Trillian inventory robot," B'Elanna said after a few seconds. She noticed Kathryn's eyes narrowed for a second to narrow slits. Of course, they had removed all records of the trill and their habits from their database. B'Elanna had only kept some information about technical components and constructions. "It's apparently sending data," she noted, "It also says these robots haven´t been made for about two years," she added, turning to Captain Riker, "Where did you find it?"  
"We found it floating in space in the ring system of a planet the inhabitants call Boonta and...", Riker was unable to finish his sentence because the lifeless robot now straightened up and seemed to scan its surroundings.  
B'Elanna held a tricorder in her hands and scanned the machine as well.  
"What's he up to?", Kathryn asked as the creature swung its legs off the table and got up. With a fluid movement it turned around and looked in her direction. They all took a step back. "It sends something," B'Elanna informed her. Then the Android raised his right arm and a flap opened. A device came out, which looked suspiciously like a weapon. He was aiming for Kathryn.  
Her eyes widened in shock. The android rushed in her direction and before she could grasp what was happening to her, she fell to the ground. A crackling noise and a sharp pain in her ankle demanded her full attention for a second. "Kathryn!", she only vaguely heard Chakotay's voice. Another pain in the middle of her body almost took her breath away, then she heard a blaster's fire. Sparks flew, but Kathryn saw this only out of the corner of her eye. The pain subsided when the crewmembers removed the android from her.  
"Kathryn?", Chakotay's voice was still far away, even though he was standing right in front of her. The sound of the android's gun had outraged her sense of hearing for a while. The pain in the middle of her body slowly returned and increased immeasurably. At the same time she fainted. She didn´t notice how Chakotay lifted her to his arms.  
"Let's get her to the sick bay!", Riker suggested.  
"We'll take her to Voyager," Chakotay's said. "She should be examined by our doctor. She's pregnant." He didn´t notice B'Elanna looked surprised, because he had no time to worry about her. They left the engineering, accompanied by Captain Riker, while La Forge and his crew were still busy keeping the android under control. On the threshold of the engineering, B'Elanna saw how the machine sank lifelessly together.

When his guests had left Enterprise, Will Riker made his way back to the engineering. "How did that happen?!", he asked reproachfully. The crew of the engineering had laid the android again on a table. Commander Data also looked at the android. "Why didn´t you discover the android's weapon?!", Riker asked. He had assumed the security staff had scanned the android.  
"When we scanned it, we didn´t find any traces of a weapon," Data replied, "Apparently, its shroud is made of a material that our scanners can´t analyze."  
"Damn!", Captain Riker cursed. He remembered the awkward situation on the way to the transporter room, where he apologized to General Chakotay countless times for the incident. He didn´t know the queen was pregnant.  
"What should we do with it now?", La Forge asked.  
"I don´t know," Riker made a dismissive gesture, "Get rid of it!" Still upset, he left the engineering.  
A contact request on his terminal, which definitely came from Voyager, caught La Forge's attention.

Chakotay would never forget the moment when the doors to the sick bay opened and he fell in with an unconscious Kathryn on his arm. The holographic doctor asked what had happened and he reported only briefly. B'Elanna hadn´t followed them, but had gone straight to the engineering of Voyager.  
That had been an hour ago. Now, he was sitting alone in his quarters on Voyager, staring out at the stars and listening to the soft noise of the warp core. Kathryn was still at the sick bay while Aeria and Riehsa stayed with Cierra in the royal palace on Carea.  
He thought feverishly about how he could tell Kathryn they would never have their twins. The twins... He wondered what gender the babies would have had and he thought of their names because he and Kathryn had already talked about that. This hit him very much. Only the sound of the door buzzer ripped him from his thoughts.

Outside the door, Tom pressed the door buzzer again, but the captain didn´t answer. "What's up?", he asked, glancing at Sekaya, "Isn´t he at home?" He got an answer when the captain's quarter door opened. "What do you want?", Chakotay said and both Tom and Sekaya were surprised to see him in that condition. "I assume you heard what happened," he guessed, not expecting Tom had no idea. For a change B'Elanna had kept her mouth shut.  
Sekaya was shocked when she heard what had happened on Enterprise and Tom looked very concerned. "If you'll excuse me," Chakotay told them, "In case whatever you want can wait until tomorrow, I'll think about how to tell my wife we will never have our twins... Oh, one more thing: I would like you to keep that to yourself."

"Of course, General," Tom knew Chakotay was talking to him right now, not to Counselor Sekaya.

Kathryn's head hurt when she awoke the next morning and recognized the dim sick bay. She saw that her husband had slumped in a chair next to her bed and was asleep.  
She raised her head and immediately a low alarm was heard. She could study her vital signs only briefly before Chakotay woke up.  
"Kathryn," he got up from the chair and reached for her hand, "How are you?"  
"My left foot hurts," she paused for a moment. "But it could also be the right one. I don´t know... "At the moment she found it difficult to classify her limbs. The doctor had begun to heal most of her injuries: When he wanted to take care of her broken ankle, a crew member injured in the head intervened and he decided the queen would survive a night with a broken bone and he´d continue with the osteogenesis device next day.  
"I lost the twins, didn´t I?", she asked.  
"Kathryn, I..."  
"I'm not lying in a biobed for the first time during a pregnancy," she reminded him. Since each child had an own heartbeat, the biobed would actually have to show. Kathryn could only see her pulse in the display so this was all she had to know. She also remembered the unbearable pain in the middle of her body after the android had thrown her to the ground.  
"Yes that's true". His heart almost broke when she started crying.  
"I'm sorry," Kathryn finally said.  
"It wasn´t your fault."  
She wiped her face with her hands to hide her tears. She didn´t resist when Chakotay pulled her close and held her.

She was allowed to leave the sickbay the same day. The doctor thought it was a good sign that the Queen was very happy when the General and the two princesses picked her up. The queen hugged Crown Princess Aeria firmly. Several times a day he inquired after her health and was worried when court lady Cierra only told him the Queen was lying in bed and didn´t talk to her. Neelix stopped by at noon and asked if he could do something, but Watchdog Cierra sent him away without letting him talk to the queen. Next day, Cierra had to report she didn´t know where the queen was and she started looking for her.  
"What's wronge? What should I look at?", Chakotay asked a little impatiently as he followed Cierra to the long corridor, supported on one side only by massive marble pillars. Because the weather on Carea was usually very good, it wasn´t necessary to protect the expensive oil paintings from the weather.  
Cierra stopped behind one of the thick marble columns and looked at Chakotay very worried. "She's been here since sunrise," she informed him. They saw Kathryn standing in front of an oil painting of her mother and staring at it. "I asked her if I could do anything for her, but she refused."  
Chakotay left Cierra alone behind the marble pillar and walking to Kathryn. "Cierra told me you've been standing here since sunrise," he greeted her and stopped right next to her. "Would you like to introduce me to your thoughts during breakfast?", he waited anxiously for an answer.

Kathryn didn´t reply immediately. This worried him internally. Finally, she began to speak in a low voice and the answer was sobering: "No," she said, but he was relieved when she added a "not yet."  
In the evening Kathryn was still standing in front of her mother's oil painting. "She's still staring at the picture," Chakotay told Tom and B'Elanna, watching the queen from the stairs. The setting sun had dipped the half-open room in orange light.  
"I'm talking to her," B'Elanna decided and before Tom could say anything about it, his wife gave him his daughter in his arms and walked towards the queen.  
"May I ask you a question?", B'Elanna began, not waiting for an answer, "What about your father? I notice there is an oil painting of Queen Riehsa, but here is none which shows the king."  
"My father died when I was ten years old," Kathryn replied, "When I was a kid, my mother had very little time for me anyway, so I always wanted to do better than she did. After my father passed away, I saw my mother even less. I would say she died of her broken heart."  
B'Elanna was amazed at the parallels between the life of the Regent of Carea and Kathryn Janeway: Both had lost their father at a young age, both obviously by an accident. At least if she believed the Starfleet file.  
"How are you?", B'Elanna asked now, hoping the queen didn´t mind, because it was obvious how she was doing. The answer she received was honest: "There are moments when I am incredibly sad and I just want to cry. And then I tell myself without the twins I have more time for Aeria and Riehsa", she paused for a moment and looked down at her hands, "I know I only persuade this to myself. Basically, I'm completely overwhelmed with the situation. I would like to know how to fill the emptiness in my heart. And actually, I should be grateful I already have two healthy little daughters, but I feel empty... Almost dead... Basically, we were very happy about the twins."

"I know that's not easy for you both," B'Elanna confessed, "Tom and I have been through this before," she admitted, realizing only in the corner of her eye how Kathryn lifted her head in surprise, "We lost a baby about three years ago. Back then, we kept that to ourselves. It almost destroyed me inside. Although the pregnancy wasn´t very advanced, I already had a name."  
Kathryn wordlessly. "Larsa and Theia," she suddenly said, "Zeydan and Rian."  
B'Elanna understood better than anyone else. "I know it won´t comfort you, but I checked the android's hard drive," B'Elanna informed her, "It was programmed to activate as soon as it could hear your voice over a period of time. Its casing is made of a material that Enterprise's scanners couldn´t analyze. Our scanners couldn´t as well. Please don´t blame the crew of Enterprise. And not yourself either."  
Kathryn nodded in silence. "Will the pain ever subside?", she asked.  
"A part of you will never forget. Otherwise, I can only speak for myself", B'Elanna replied, "Don´t let it destroy you."  
"I try…."

A cold gust of wind woke Chakotay in the night. Goosebumps crept over his arms and he noticed that Kathryn fortunately still slept beside him. He didn´t know what B'Elanna had said to her, but after their conversation Kathryn had at least joined her family at dinner. Aeria was too young to understand what was going on with her mother.  
After dinner Kathryn brought Aeria and Riehsa to bed - she sent Cierra home hours earlier than usual.

After that, they talked. Chakotay found out how bad she felt and she was barely able to express her pain in words. "I feel the same way," he replied, "I hardly know how to look at you without blaming myself." He thought he should have protected her more and asked her if they would ever return to normal and Kathryn knew immediately what he meant.  
They talked until late into the night until both had fallen asleep tired. The winter nights on Carea were cold and the cold had woken him late in the night. He was almost relieved she hadn´t left their quarters to continue staring at her mother's painting. In the faint light of the two Carea- moons he noticed she also had to freeze. Carefully he pulled her blanket up to her shoulders. The gentle movement woke her. "What´s wrong...?", She looked around in confusion. Had she heard a baby cry?  
"It's alright, dear," he whispered, "Sleep." He pushed a loose strand of her red hair out of her face, leaned towards her and kissed her gently. His heart jumped in happiness as she returned the kiss and then nestled in his arm to continue sleeping. Calmed, he fell asleep again.

One week later, it was Aeria's third birthday and Kathryn had promised her daughter they only did what the little girl enjoyed. And because the birthday girl was in charge today, the family had traveled to Caro, invited Naomi to join them, and during the journey in the small shuttle Kathryn promised she would teach her diving. Kathryn was almost grateful that Aeria wanted to make a trip to Caro. Although Kathryn liked walking along the city beach of Berra, she preferred not to swim there. She was the queen, after all. Here in her holiday home on Caro everything was a bit secluded and private. She knew she wouldn´t be photographed by a Marian reporter here. In addition, the small change of scene were good for her still ailing feelings.

"Ready?", Kathryn asked and Naomi and Aeria nodded.  
"Ready." Then they pulled their goggles over their eyes, took a deep breath and disappeared at the same time in the blue water of the pool, which was located directly behind the house of the royal family on Caro.  
Now Kathryn rolled her eyes a little, apparently because Aeria and her friend Naomi dived very well. She guessed she had fallen for the girls.  
It was a very nice, hot day. On Carea and Caro were in the first hot weather cycle. After spending the morning in the pool, they had lunch and there was Aeria's favorite food. Afterwards, she unpacked her presents and spent the rest of the day swimming in the pool (Kathryn swam a few laps in the water with Riehsa on her chest while Naomi and Aeria played peacefully together. Chakotay sat on a couch at the edge of the pool and read a book) before they returned to Carea in the evening.  
The palace hosted a celebration in honor of the third birthday of the princess. In addition to the senior officers of Voyager, the senior officers of Enterprise and Sanctuary would also be present. Inwardly, Kathryn could hardly believe she had given in and allowed them to visit Carea.  
Chakotay found Kathryn in her study room in her quarters in the evening. She wore a glittering evening dress with a low waist. He knew she didn´t like such conspicuous clothes, and secretly wondered if she was annoyed with her new court lady´s choice. Kathryn had returned the dress she had actually picked for Aeria´s birthday party, because... He quickly shooed the thought aside and entered the room.  
Kathryn felt caught when she put a book back on the shelf. He saw a glittering object in her hand. "What's that?", Chakotay asked.

"What?", Kathryn replied, "Do you think there's a treasury in the basement of the palace where I keep the royal jewels?"  
"Yes." Instead, it turned out she kept her precious jewelry in a dummy book in her study room. "Let me help you," he then said softly to her and took the glittering necklace from her. Kathryn turned around and let him close the necklace on the back of her neck. He had given her this necklace and he would never forget the moment she was sitting on the bridge of the Voyager surrounded by rubble a few years ago: they had planned to celebrate her birthday this evening, but an attack by Preem fighters, who didn´t accept the death their king, ruined it. Because the Voyager was damaged, Harry Kim had shown her how to assemble the spare parts for the control console. Focused, Kathryn worked with the laser pen and the skirt of her red dress formed a kind of halo around her as he sat down in the debris field. "Happy Birthday," he said and for a moment Kathryn put the spare parts away. The necklace was packed in a box and red wrapping paper. When she opened the box, Kathryn was touched: "Dearest, that's beautiful... But I can´t accept the gift." She wanted to say it made more sense to turn it into a spare part or medication for a crewmember. Because the energy reserves of the ship were low, they were on their last legs. Her good heart didn´t allow him to spend the already scarce energy on her. "I replicated the gift long before the attack. I would be sad if...", he couldn´t finish the sentence, because suddenly she leaned over and kissed him. Chakotay would never forget the warm smile she gave him after the kiss. And finally she had kept the necklace.  
When he had closed the necklace for her, he put his hands waiting on her shoulders. She turned half to him. "Come on, I'll show you something."  
She grabbed his hand and walked with him into the library of the palace. They stopped in a narrow corridor illuminated by the incoming moonlight. Chakotay pulled a book off the shelf and when he couldn´t identify the letters, he put it back.

"You have to promise you will keep this for yourself. Don´t tell anyone, not even your sister", apparently Kathryn was looking for a particular book. Finally, she pulled a thick book from the shelf, its cover was made of red leather. She opened it when she held it in her hands and revealed a gold scepter. "I didn´t know you had a scepter," he said.  
"I last held it in my hands the day I became the queen of this planet," she said without letting her eyes drop the precious jewel. Her crown was made up of countless diamonds and the scepter sure fit well with it. "Anyway, I'm glad my mother hid her precious things in old books. If the scepter had been in the basement in the old treasury, it would have been destroyed by the Preem attack." She put the scepter back in the book and put it back on the shelf. She noticed how her husband gently pressed her to the shelf and she smiled sweetly. Chakotay saw a flash in her eyes he had thought it would never be seen again after the events of the last few days. Almost by accident, his left hand stroked her cheek gently and then her neck. When she gasped for air, he bridged the last inch between them and their lips fused into a heartfelt kiss. Kathryn wrapped her arms around his neck.  
At that moment Tom Paris reported via Com: "General, Your Majesty. We're in your quarters now and waiting for you." They had planned to go to the party together.  
"We're on our way," Chakotay said, before he gently pushed Kathryn against the shelf again and kissed her.

What they didn´t know was that Harry, Leila, B'Elanna and Tom had been waiting in their quarters for a few minutes, intercepting Cierra, who had the correspondence for the Queen. "You're not going to bother her today with that?", Tom asked and when he saw Cierra's helpless expression, he added: "It's Princess Aeria's birthday..." Tom took the PADD from her and read it. "A little nervous, Harry?", B'Elanna asked.  
Harry nodded. "My mother came here with Sanctuary. Today I finally see her again", he looked at Leila, who was also excited.  
When Tom read the subject of the message on the PADD, he was icy cold: "The Trillian Government sends congratulations on your pregnancy." He quickly deleted the message. B'Elanna had later told him in detail what had happened in the engineering of Enterprise and he remembered that the Trillian inventory robotic had sent something. Tom now guessed what data exactly the android had sent. Presumably he should report if he had completed his deceitful mission. Of course, what had happened to the Queen was tragic and he was hoping she would recover from the pain one day, but Voyager's Commander knew it could have come worse.  
"What are we going to do now?", B'Elanna asked worriedly, "Should we respond to that?"  
"To what?", Harry asked confused.  
Tom couldn´t answer, because at that moment the door to the royal family's quarters opened.

"Here you are finally!", Tom shouted, letting the padd disappear behind his back. Like himself, the general was dressed in gala uniform, while the queen wore a glittering gown. Aeria just came out of her room with the new court lady, Sia.  
"You look pretty, sweetheart," Chakotay told his daughter, lifting the dark-haired girl to his arm. Aeria wore a silver dress with a long tulle skirt. "Do I get a kiss?"  
"No," Aeria replied defiantly.  
They said goodbye to Cierra and Sia and told them they could contact them at any time, if problems with Riehsa occurred. The baby was too small to join the celebrations for the birthday of the heir to the throne.  
"I never expected to see so many Starfleet officers in the same place again," B'Elanna said softly to Tom as she entered the ballroom by his arm.  
"It´s up to them," he replied, pointing his head toward the Queen and the General, who was still carrying Aeria on his arm. They were talking to a tall man at the moment, Captain Riker. "I hope we can talk about the conditions of our stay," he said and Kathryn asked herself if she had lost something. Riker obviously assumed she would allow Starfleet to stay here.  
"Your Royal Highness, Happy Birthday," Deanna said to Aeria and told the little girl about her son David, who was the same age as her and sure he´d be happy to meet her.  
"Counselor Riker, thank you for your congratulations," Aeria replied. With his daughter on his left arm and Kathryn on his right, they walked through the hall, filled with people from Voyager´ and Enterprise crews. Some of the officers seemed surprised, even seeing Captain Picard at the party. They passed B'Elanna, Tom, Harry and his wife Leila talking to Chief La Forge and Commander Data: "I can help you refurbish the Voyager warp core," Geordi La Forge offered.

"No," B'Elanna vigorously refused, "Voyager is fine."  
The Holographic Doctor of Voyager just talked to Beverly Crusher and proudly told her about the nanovirus he had developed to beat the Borg. Samantha Wildman chatted excitedly to Neelix: "Naomi will meet her dad tomorrow," she said, beaming, "I'm so glad he's aboard the Sanctuary and the queen finally allows they stay on Carea."  
Soon after, Kathryn stood aloof and watched the crowd skeptically. "I can almost hear you thinking," Chakotay said softly to her as he handed her a glass of a drink.  
"Should we actually allow them to stay?"  
"Why not? They lost their home..."  
"Yes," she agreed, "But I didn´t intend to raise a new Starfleet here. We have coped very well in the recent years without protocols, directives and parameters... Definitely I would have to give up my position as Queen. Starfleet doesn´t connect with planets whose government form is a monarchy. I know what you want to say: You suspect I want to remain the queen because I don´t want to give up my comfort, but that's not true. When I'm no longer the queen, I give up my freedom to do what I think is right for my planet."  
"I didn´t tell you, but Tom and I had a conversation with Captain Picard and Captain Riker the night before last night. They agreed to negotiate their staying here according to our terms." He saw that his wife was surprised. Most of all, because Tom seemed to have been a great support: he had avoided Starfleet, but now he had to give in grudgingly.  
"This is our territory. Your planet. At first we were skeptical. Tom and I have been thinking for a long time about whether they might be up to something, but the truth is..."  
Kathryn was excited and held her breath.

"...They are looking for a new home after Earth and the Half Alpha Quadrant have been destroyed. And they would be very grateful if we stand by them until they have settled in here. Picard also said he was a researcher and he may not last long in one place." He sounded very amused and he also thought a ship like Enterprise and Sanctuary were clearly beneficial.  
"You have a little more time to think about it, my queen. You don´t have to rush", he had emptied his glass and put it on the tray of a waitress who was walking past them. Then he took Kathryn's hand. "But today we celebrate our daughter's birthday." He pulled her behind him to the dance floor, where many guests were already dancing.

The last guests said goodbye in the morning. One of them was Commander Data, who never needed sleep. Kathryn was sitting on a couch on the edge of the ballroom, her sleeping daughter Aeria in her arms. Inwardly, she echoed herself a bad mother, but only exceptionally.  
She smiled when she saw Chakotay coming to her. "Tired?", he asked his wife.  
"Yes, a little bit," she looked affectionately at Aeria, who had nestled against her shoulder. She would sleep well all day.  
"The sun is rising every moment," he began, "Let's see the sunrise."  
As they entered the terrace, the sky was already shimmering in beautiful orange shades and Aeria awoke from her brief slumber. "Mommy, let me down!", the princess wanted to be dropped off and Kathryn did her the favor. They walked across the terrace, Kathryn holding Chakotay's hand. The tulle skirt of her long dress blew gently in the wind and it shimmered like the surface of a lake in the sunlight. "I love you," she smiled and he smiled back.  
"I love you, too," he wrapped his arms around her as they stopped in front of a marble railing. Carefully, the sun called Caressa awoke, dove the second planet of the solar system in bright light, and a new day began. The sunrise was beautiful. Kathryn's head leaned against Chakotays body and she enjoyed the moment, but in that second Cierra answered the com. "Your Majesty, Princess Riehsa has just woken up." They heard a baby crying in the background.  
"Alright," Chakotay said, because the baby usually woke up at this time, "I'll get her," he told himself, and Kathryn watched him entering the palace through one of the myriad glass doors that led to the garden.

A light but impatient pluck on her dress caught Kathryn's attention. She turned to see a small, red-haired girl with bright blue eyes. The little girl held a bunch of flowers in her hands.  
"Hello," Kathryn said to the girl.  
"Hello," she replied, "You are the queen, aren´t you?"  
"Yes, I am." Kathryn smiled. The little girl probably didn´t live on Carea, because even the youngest Careans recognized their queen. It wasn´t unusual that children gave her little bouquets at official celebrations.  
Kathryn dropped to her knees to be at eye level with the child. "What is your name?"  
"Linda," the little girl answered and handed her the bouquet of flowers. The flowers were red, Kathryn's favorite color.  
"Linda, where is your mother?"  
The question answered itself, for they heard a woman calling the name of the child. When she found her daughter, she put her on her arm. "Excuse me, I...", she stopped when Kathryn got up, "You are the queen." The woman's voice suddenly sounded very excited. Kathryn noticed she had the same red hair as the little girl.  
"I am."  
"It´s nice to meet you." She saw a little dark-haired girl, who now appeared next to the queen. The princess was barely older than her own daughter.  
The woman gave Aeria a translucent balloon wrapped in a shiny string. "Thanks," the princess smiled.  
"What's your name?", the woman asked.  
"Aeria," the little girl confirmed, "And yours?"  
"Pheobe. And that's Linda... I apologize for my excitement. My daughter and I have a long journey behind us and there are no queens or princesses in our old homeworld."  
Kathryn smiled. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw how Chakotay left the palace building with Riehsa in his arms. "It was nice to meet you," Kathryn said to the red-haired woman who was maybe a few years younger than herself.  
"I agree," Pheobe said, "Happy belated Birthday, Princess."  
Aeria on Kathryn's arm waved. Then Chakotay reached the two. "Who was that?", he asked. When the woman was walking away, he recognized her long red hair. It almost reminded him a little bit of...

"I don´t know." Kathryn thought it was odd that on the one hand the woman didn´t live on Carea, but on the other hand she knew very well about Aeria's birthday. "She said her name is Pheobe. An unusual name..."  
With Riehsa in his arms, he quickly passed her. He had lost the woman out of sight. "Are you alright?", Kathryn asked worriedly.  
"I think so." If she ever wondered if her forgotten family on earth was still alive she might have received an answer today without realizing. Chakotay thought of the letter he had sent to Gretchen Janeway some time ago.  
"Fine," Kathryn smiled cheerfully. "Then let's go inside. I have to contact Captain Picard and Captain Riker and tell them they can stay here... "

 _Dear Mrs. Janeway,  
I'm writing to you because I want to let you know your daughter Kathryn is alive. Voyager is still in the Delta Quadrant, but with a little help, we are able to contact Earth. I hope this message reaches you._

 _My name is Chakotay and I am the husband of your daughter. We met at a time when she was still pursuing the goal of bringing Voyager and the crew to Earth. Kathryn was the captain of the ship, I was the first officer after Voyager and my crew- the marquis crew- stranded in this part of our galaxy. An accident on a small, green planet called Carea, is to blame Kathryn doesn´t remember her past - and unfortunately also you and your family. Back then, our doctor found an inexplicable swelling in your daughter's brain.  
We crashed together on the planet Carea with a shuttle and since then your daughter lives as the Queen of Carea. I have seen paintings of Kathryn in the Royal Palace and please believe me: I can´t explain how all this is possible she could live as the captain and as queen. However, you should know that the people of Carea admire and appreciate her very much. She is smart, warmhearted, strong and a generous regent.  
After this accident, we fell in love quickly, though I was aware of my feelings long before. I'm sure Kathryn felt the same way about me before, but at that time Starfleet's protocol weighed heavily on her shoulders.  
Hoping to remember her past life, she, the Queen, escorted me to Voyager. I became the captain and Kathryn taught me all I needed to learn for this task. Six months later we realized we were expecting a baby, so we decided to stay together forever and get married. Since then we live on Carea. I can well imagine what you think of me, but I assure you that none of this has happened without Kathryn's approval._

 _The moment my wife and I held our daughter Aeria in our arms was one of the best in our lives. About four weeks ago, Kathryn delivered another healthy girl, Riehsa.  
Aeria has received many of her best qualities from her mother. Riehsa is a balanced baby. There´s no better partner than Kathryn could I imagine by my side and as the mother of my children. I love Kathryn and our two adorable daughters and I promise, I will do everything to protect them. We are very happy in our own little world.  
Please forgive Kathryn for not writing to you, because as mentioned before, she can´t remember you. If she were able to, she would tell you she misses you. I also sent a letter to my mother and twin sister and because I sent them a recent family photo, it is only fair if you also get a photo. It was taken the morning after the birth of our little Princess Riehsa.  
Even if it will always remain a thought, we wholeheartedly wish to be able to overcome the seemingly infinite distance to Earth, so we may one day get to know each other personally.  
Best regards,  
Chakotay_

 _Fin_


End file.
